Overview
Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous
oxide, and other greenhouse gases have increased substantially
since pre-industrial times, and are expected to continue
their steep rate of increase if current emission patterns
continue. The major human source of greenhouse gas emissions
is burning fossil fuels. ERS research focuses on how changes
in global climate may affect
both U.S. and world agricultural production, and investigates
those agricultural practices—such as conservation
tillage or winter cover crops—that can mitigate
climate change by reducing emissions or increasing
carbon sequestration. More
overview...
Features
Economics of Sequestering Carbon
in the U.S. Agricultural Sector—Atmospheric concentrations
of greenhouse gases can be reduced by withdrawing carbon
from the atmosphere and sequestering it in soils and biomass.
This report analyzes the performance of alternative incentive
designs and payment levels if farmers were paid to adopt
land uses and management practices that raise soil carbon
levels. Amber Waves summary
article (March 2004).
Economic
Impacts of Carbon Charges on U.S. Agriculture—Evaluates
the farm sector impacts that would result from implementing a system
of carbon-based charges on energy-intensive inputs. The analysis
emphasizes production costs, crop acreage, commodity prices, input
use, farm income, and farm welfare. The charges considered—$14,
$100, and $200 per metric ton of carbon—were developed from
the literature and are consistent with reducing U.S. greenhouse
gas emissions to 1990 levels, minus 7 percent, by 2010 under different
levels of carbon trading and developing country participation. Impacts
are relatively modest for a charge of $14 per mt. Producer and consumer
surplus decline less than 0.5 percent relative to baseline conditions,
and price increases and production declines across crop and livestock
commodities are all less than 1 percent. As the carbon charge increases,
farm sector impacts become more pronounced and the significance
of the aggregate effect becomes more subjective. Climatic Change
(9/01)
Recommended Readings
Agricultural Adaptation to Climate
Change: Issues of Longrun Sustainability—Early evaluations
of the effects of climate change on agriculture, which did not account
for economic adjustments or consider the broader economic and environmental
implications of such changes, overestimated the negative effects
of climate change. This report focuses on economic adaptation and
concludes there is considerably more sectoral flexibility and adaptability
than found in other analyses.
World Agriculture and Climate Change:
Economic Adaptations (AER-703)—A comprehensive, economically
consistent projection of how climate change might alter the location
and intensity of farming. Directly links detailed climate projections
with distributions of land and water resources, and estimates the
economic effects in the major resource-using sectors (crop, livestock,
and forestry).
See all recommended readings...
Related Briefing Rooms
Conservation
Policy
Environmental
Interactions with Agricultural Production
Global Resources and Productivity
Questions and Answers
Important research questions and answers on
issues of climate change impacts, agriculture's
role, and policies to reduce global
climate change.
Related Links
USDA Global Change
Program Office—USDA-wide coordinator of agriculture, rural,
and forestry-related global change program and policy issues.
U.S. Global Change Research Program—Provides
the foundation for improving predictions of seasonal-to-interannual
climate fluctuations and long-term climate change.
See all related links...
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