The climate crisis and agriculture

• Date: 01 February 2022

52 ELR 10096 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER 22022

ARTICLES

This Article begins by describing how the climate

crisis threatens to disrupt agricu ltural production

at immense cost to society. We then outline agri-

cultural emissions at the global, national, and state levels,

demonstrating the need for quick and ambitious action

to change agricultural practices. We explain why ocial

gures signicantly u nderestimate agricultura l emissions

and why, compounding the problem, a gricultural emis-

sions are dicult to estimate with precision. We conclude

by explaining the need to transform agriculture from one

of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases into a

net sink.

I. Climate Change’s Impact on Agriculture

Weather—the patterns of which make up the climate—

profoundly aects our food system. e growing of crops

requires certain a mounts of water, heat, and sun; tempera-

ture and other conditions inuence the growth and health

of animals. Yet, climate change is dramatically altering the

weather patterns in the United States. Figure 1 (next page)

shows a few categories of harm out of many possible exam-

ples.1 Floods, droughts, and heat waves a re more frequent

1. Figure 1 sources: U.S. EPA, Climate Change Impacts on Agriculture and

Food Supply, https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climate-impacts/

climate-impacts-agriculture-and-food-supply_.html (last visited Jan. 23,

2021); G C R P, I, R,  A-

   U S: F N C A-

and more extreme; wildres are increasing due in part to

climate change. e range of many pests is expanding as

warmer weather moves nor th.

ese changing weather patterns and increased extreme

weather events are exacting a heav y toll on American agri-

culture. e 2016 droughts in California led to more than

$600 million in losses. Hurrica ne Maria attened farm

elds throughout Puerto Rico in 2017, causing almost

$800 million in losses. e 2019 ooding in the Midwest

left 5 to 10 million bushels of corn and soy to rot and

19 million acres unable to be planted. Heat stress causes

kidney disease and other harms to farmworkers and can

weaken animals and slow their growth. As climate change

gets more severe, so will these impacts.

, V II 391-437 50-174 (2018); J M-A 

., C  W S, E A   2016

C D  A (2016); Curtis A. Deutsch et al.,

Increase in Crop Losses to Insect Pests in a Warming Climate, 361 N

916-19 (2018); Matthew R. Smith et al., e Impact of Rising Carbon

Dioxide Levels on Crop Nutrients and Human Health, F  F

(2018) (GCAN Policy Note 10); Deepak Ray, Climate Change Is Aecting

Crop Yields and Reducing Global Food Supplies, T C, July 9,

2019, http://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-aecting-crop-yields-

and-reducing-global-food-supplies-118897; Tom Polansek, U.S. Disaster

Aid Won’t Cover Crops Drowned by Midwest Floods, R, Apr. 2, 2019,

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-weather-iowa/u-s-disaster-aid-wont-

cover-crops-drowned-by-midwest-oods-idUSKCN1RE0BU; John Schwartz,

A Wet Year Causes Farm Woes Far Beyond the Floodplains, N.Y. T, Nov.

21, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/21/climate/farms-climate-

change-crops.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share.

THE CLIMATE CRISIS AND

AGRICULTURE

by Peter H. Lehner and Nathan A. Rosenberg

Peter H. Lehner is Managing Attorney of the Sustainable Food & Farming Program

at Earthjustice. Nathan A. Rosenberg is a visiting scholar at the Food Law and Policy

Clinic at Harvard Law School and an attorney consulting for Earthjustice.

SUMMARY

Agriculture’s contribution to climate change is much more substantial than off‌icial f‌igures suggest. We will

not be able to achieve our overall mitigation goals unless agricultural emissions sharply decline. Farms and

ranches can be a major part of the climate solution, while protecting biodiversity, strengthening rural com-

munities, and improving the lives of the workers who cultivate our crops and rear our animals. Agriculture

climate solutions are critical elements both in ensuring our food security and in limiting climate change. This

Article, excerpted from Farming for Our Future: The Science, Law, and Policy of Climate-Neutral Agriculture

(ELI Press 2021), provides the current state of emissions in the agriculture sector, and argues that we must

transform agriculture from one of the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases into a net sink.

Copyright © 2022 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.