Global research has revealed the two-way relationship between climate change
and agriculture. Agriculture is a major driver of climate change,
extinction, and pollution, with major environmental effects. At the same
time, flooding, droughts, and extreme temperatures resulting from climate
change are beginning to threaten global food production.



A sweeping global research conducted by professors at the University of
Minnesota, with more than 20 experts from around the world, examined the
links between climate and agriculture. The study revealed that as climate
change puts more pressure on the global food supply, agriculture adopts
practices that further accelerate climate change. The research team also
identified new agricultural practices that have the potential to greatly
reduce climate impacts, increase efficiency, and stabilize the global food
supply in the decades to come. The research found:



Climate change has broad-ranging impacts on agricultural practices,
increasing water use and scarcity, nitrous oxide and methane emissions, soil
degradation, nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, pest pressure, pesticide
pollution, and biodiversity loss.

Climate-agriculture feedback pathways could dramatically increase
agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Without changes in agriculture, this
feedback loop could make it impossible to achieve the Paris Agreement goal
of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius to 2 degrees Celsius.

Existing sustainable agricultural practices and technologies, if they are
implemented on a wide scale, can greatly reduce agricultural emissions and
prevent a feedback loop from developing. To achieve this, governments must
work to remove socioeconomic barriers and make climate-resilient solutions
accessible to farmers and food producers.



The team has also identified several next steps, including accelerating the
adaptation and cost-reduction of efficient and climate-friendly agriculture,
precision farming, perennial crop integration, agrivoltaics, nitrogen
fixation, and novel genome editing. These emerging techniques could increase
production and efficiency in agriculture while reducing climate change
impacts.





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