Agriculture has been around for thousands of years but the methods used have changed dramatically and have impacted global warming negatively. With these changing methods and the increase in the world’s population every day, there’s no wonder that this could continue to be a negative impact if a solution isn’t found. One thing that can’t be stopped is the population increase of the planet so a change in agriculture must be established.
With the growing population, there would have to be more agricultural farming in order to satisfy everyone’s hunger. Sure, the modern agriculture today can increase yields quickly but this is done with toxic chemical pesticides and fertilizers that can be harmful when consumed. Nitrogenous fertilizer, for example, has not only brought health issues to people but has polluted water because of its runoff. For this, health problems have grown to be expensive and the question here is whether this tradeoff is worth it.
Organic farming can eliminate these factors and even bring more positives with its lower levels of pesticides. Surprisingly, organic agricultural methods can eliminate somewhere around 7,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air every year. Even more shocking, the Rodale Institute has proved that “if all 434 million acres of American cropland were converted to these practices, it would be the equivalent of eliminating 217 million cars from the road, or a car for every two acres of farmland.”
Today, organic agricultural methods have become a trend but the percentage is still incredibly low. In 2008, only about 0.7% of cropland and 0.5% of pasture in the U.S. were reported certified organic but increased from 2002 to 2008 at a 15% adoption rate. As long as this rate continues and many people become aware of these pesticides, there will be less health problems and less negative effects on global warming.
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