Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation: Challenges and Opportunities for Agriculture

CAST papers are the foundation of CAST’s science communication work. Developed by expert-led task forces, these peer-reviewed publications translate agricultural science into trusted insights that inform policy, guide public understanding, and fuel CAST programs, dialogues, and educational initiatives.

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May 26, 2004
Task Force Report

DOI: https://doi.org/10.62300/pmzs4m57

Task Force Chairs

Keith Paustian

Department of Soil and Crop Sciences and Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins

Bruce A. Babcock

Department of Economics, Iowa State University, Ames

Authors

Jerry Hatfield

U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, National Soil Tilth Laboratory, Ames, Iowa

Catherine L. Kling

Department of Economics, Iowa State University, Ames

Rattan Lal

School of Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, Columbus

Bruce A. McCarl

Department of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M University, College Station

Sandy McLaughlin

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Arvin R. Mosier

U.S. Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Research Service, Fort Collins, Colorado

Wilfred M. Post

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Charles W. Rice

Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University, Manhattan

G. Philip Robertson

Department of Crop and Soil Sciences and W. K. Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University, Hickory Corners

Norman J. Rosenberg

Joint Global Change Research Institute, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland

Cynthia Rosenzweig

NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Columbia University, New York, New York

William H. Schlesinger

Department of Botany, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

David Zilberman

Agriculture and Resource Economics, University of California–Berkeley

Abstract

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are of increasing concern because of their potential role in promoting rapid and undesirable change in climate. Agriculture ironically serves as both a source and a sink for this increase in GHGs. This report analyzes agriculture's complex, pivotal role in this vitally important issue by considering policy options, implementation, and future monitoring and verification of GHG mitigation. The report outlines seven potential methods for agricultural mitigation of GHG concentrations.

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