Changing pressures on the environment

Changing pressures on the environment Agriculture’s contribution to air pollution and climate Public attention tends to focus on the more visible signs of agriculture’s impact on the environment, whereas it seems likely that the non-visible or less obvious impacts of air pollution cause the greatest economic costs. Agriculture affects air quality and the atmosphere in four main ways: particulate matter and GHGs from land clearance by fire (mainly rangeland and forest) and the burning of rice residues; methane from rice and livestock production; nitrous oxide from fertilizers and manure; and ammonia from manure and urine. Pollution from biomass burning Soot, dust, and trace gases are released by biomass burning during the forest, bush, or rangeland clearance for agriculture. Burning is traditionally practiced in “slash and burn” tropical farming, in the firing of savannah regions by pastoralists to stimulate forage growth and in the clearing of fallow land and d