[ti:World Food Production Also Having Big Effect on Climate Change]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]Most of the efforts aimed at reducing climate change
[00:05.04]center on reducing the use of fossil fuels.
[00:11.52]But a new study warns that pollution caused
[00:16.00]by the world's food production system
[00:19.04]is also a major driver of rising temperatures on the planet.
[00:26.92]The study found that if the world food system
[00:31.08]stays on its current growth path,
[00:34.12]it will produce nearly 1.4 trillion
[00:38.96]metric tons of greenhouse gases over the next 80 years.
[00:46.28]That pollution is expected to come from fertilizers
[00:51.36]used in agriculture, mismanaged soil, food waste
[00:57.52]and methane gas released from cows and other animals.
[01:04.24]Other causes include land-clearing operations and deforestation.
[01:12.20]Researchers from the University of Minnesota
[01:16.00]and the University of Oxford in Britain led the study,
[01:21.28]which recently appeared in the publication Science.
[01:27.08]The researchers predict that even if fossil fuel emissions were halted now,
[01:34.76]emissions from the world food system would make it impossible
[01:39.92]to reach current international climate change targets.
[01:45.20]They say that emissions from food production alone
[01:49.96]could push world temperatures past 1.5 degrees Celsius
[01:56.36]by the middle of this century
[01:58.48]and above 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
[02:04.76]A main goal of the 2015 United Nations Paris Agreement
[02:10.56]on climate change is to keep rises in the Earth's temperature
[02:16.00]during this century to between 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius.
[02:23.92]The U.N. has said that in order to stay below the 1.5 Celsius level,
[02:30.72]emissions must fall at least 7.6 percent each year through 2030.
[02:40.04]The new study calls for immediate "improvements in farming practices,
[02:46.04]as well as changes in what we eat and how much food we waste,"
[02:51.88]to help reach the Paris Agreement goals.
[02:56.96]Jason Hill is a professor of biosystems engineering
[03:02.00]at the University of Minnesota.
[03:05.96]He helped lead the study.
[03:08.68]He said in a statement that the research
[03:12.80]clearly demonstrates that food has a much greater effect
[03:17.56]on climate change than is widely known.
[03:22.40]Hill also noted that fixing the problem would not require
[03:27.48]the world's population to completely stop eating meat.
[03:32.44]"The whole world doesn't have to give up meat
[03:36.08]for us to meet our climate goals," he told the Associated Press.
[03:42.16]"We can eat better, healthier foods.
[03:46.00]We can improve how we grow foods.
[03:48.60]And we can waste less food."
[03:53.04]The researchers say such efforts are achievable
[03:57.44]and can also lead to many other improvements
[04:01.04]beyond controlling climate change.
[04:05.40]These include making humans healthier,
[04:08.84]reducing water pollution, improving air quality,
[04:13.64]preventing animal extinctions and improving farm profitability.
[04:20.88]The study makes the following predictions:
[04:24.48]A nearly complete change to a plant-rich diet around the world
[04:30.36]could cut nearly 650 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases.
[04:38.72]If almost everyone ate the right number of calories based on age
[04:44.16]- around 2,100 calories a day for many adults
[04:49.68]- it would reduce emissions by about 410 billion metric tons.
[04:57.20]If farming could reduce carbon levels - by using less fertilizer,
[05:02.40]managing soil better and doing better crop rotation
[05:07.40]- it would cut greenhouse gases by nearly 540 billion metric tons.
[05:14.88]And if people wasted less food - at home, in restaurants
[05:20.80]or by getting it to people in poorer countries
[05:24.36]– emissions could be cut by about 360 billion metric tons.
[05:31.64]I'm Bryan Lynn. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM