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Global agriculture and nitrous oxide emissions

Nature Climate Change volume 2, pages 410–416 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important anthropogenic greenhouse gas and agriculture represents its largest source. It is at the heart of debates over the efficacy of biofuels, the climate-forcing impact of population growth, and the extent to which mitigation of non-CO2 emissions can help avoid dangerous climate change. Here we examine some of the major debates surrounding estimation of agricultural N2O sources, and the challenges of projecting and mitigating emissions in coming decades. We find that current flux estimates — using either top-down or bottom-up methods — are reasonably consistent at the global scale, but that a dearth of direct measurements in some areas makes national and sub-national estimates highly uncertain. We also highlight key uncertainties in projected emissions and demonstrate the potential for dietary choice and supply-chain mitigation.

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Figure 1: Global N2O emissions from agriculture between 1990 and 203010.
Figure 2
Figure 3: Average per capita poultry-meat consumption between 2006 and 2020.
Figure 4: Estimated mass of consumer-phase food waste (left axis), 'avoidable' food waste, and 'avoidable' production-phase N2O emissions (right axis) for five food types in the UK in 200977,81.
Figure 5: Mass of global production (left axis) for five food types in 200929, estimated 'loss and wastage' along supply chain80, and estimated N2O emissions77 (right axis) associated with the production of 'lost and wasted' food (grey bars).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9XP, UK

    Dave S. Reay & Keith A. Smith

  2. The Woods Hole Research Center, 149 Woods Hole Road, Falmouth, 02540-1644, Massachusetts, USA

    Eric A. Davidson

  3. Woodlands One, Pomeroy Villas, Totnes, TQ9 5BE, Devon, UK

    Keith A. Smith

  4. Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Cruickshank Building, St Machar Drive, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU, UK

    Pete Smith

  5. The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, 02543, Massachusetts, USA

    Jerry M. Melillo

  6. European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Climate Change Unit, via Enrico Fermi 1, I-21020, Ispra, 290, TP, Italy

    Frank Dentener

  7. Department of Atmospheric Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, PO Box 3060, Mainz, D-55020, Germany

    Paul J. Crutzen

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  1. Dave S. Reay
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Contributions

D.S.R. conceived the Review, conducted the analyses of diet and food waste impacts, and prepared the manuscript. All authors contributed in the writing and editing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Dave S. Reay.

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Reay, D., Davidson, E., Smith, K. et al. Global agriculture and nitrous oxide emissions. Nature Clim Change 2, 410–416 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1458

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