Changes to Food Production Necessary to Reduce Climate Impact

Ecology and Environment

Research by MSI PI Jason Hill (professor, Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering) and colleagues shows that, in order to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming, changes will need to be made to worldwide agriculture and food consumption. While changing to all all-vegan diet isn’t necessary, reducing the amount of meat consumed, as well as reducing food waste and overconsumption, making farming more carbon-efficient, and using genetic methods to increase yields would all contribute to reducing the amount of greenhouse-gas emissions related to the food supply. The research was published in the journal Science: MA Clark, NGG Domingo, K Colgan, SK Thakar, D Tilman, J Lynch, IL Azevedo, JD Hill. 2020. Global Food Systems Emissions Could Preclude Achieving the 1.5° and 2° Climate Change Targets. Science 370(6517): 705-708. doi: 10.1126/science.aba7357.

An article about the research appears as a Research Brief on the U of M website: Reducing Global Food System Emissions Key to Meeting Climate Goals.

Professor Hill uses MSI to develop sophisticated computational models to study air quality. Work by his group has been on the MSI website, most recently in July 2017: A New Computer Model for Air Pollution.

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