Agriculture

In the United States, the agricultural sector is responsible for a relatively small level (less than 10 percent) of direct greenhouse gas emissions. Agricultural emissions consist largely of nitrous oxide (N₂O) from fertilizer use and methane (CH₄) from livestock digestive processes. In addition to direct emissions, the agricultural sector interacts with the climate system in several ways: agricultural lands act as important carbon sinks (i.e., they take carbon dioxide (CO₂) out of the atmosphere and store it as carbon), agricultural biomass is used for bio-based products and energy that can displace fossil fuels, and agricultural land use and land use change affects the amount of energy reflected by the earth’s surface. Each of these interactions is important to understanding the role of agriculture in the climate system.