Organic Farming & Climate Change

One of the major problems the world is still facing right now is global warming largely in part of greenhouse effect. When solar energy goes into the Earth's atmosphere, it is functionally absorbed by the Earth's surface. The heated surface gives back some of the energy to the atmosphere wherein only a small portion escapes through the space. The remaining energy is actually absorbed by the functional greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide found in the actual atmosphere and bounces a part of it back to the Earth. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are contributed to by modern industry and agriculture since burning fossil fuel results in the increase of actual carbon dioxide found in the air, further aggravating the greenhouse effect. It is called the greenhouse effect because it copies the conditions of greenhouse, which is to trap heat energy inside for the utilization of plants. This effect is essential to life but a significant increase in the level of functional greenhouse gases will cause global warming, which is an elevation of the temperature of the Earth's atmosphere, bringing a major change in the climate. 

When global warming worsens, it may cause the ice caps in the North Pole to melt, causing an increase in global water levels. This, in turn, can cause flooding and some argue that this could wipe out large areas of, if not, entire countries. This condition has already been brought to our attention before and several efforts have been made such as stopping the use of aerosol sprays.

The role of farming

Unfortunately, conventional farming also plays a major role in contributing to the excessive production of greenhouse gases. It is responsible for producing considerable amounts of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.

Organic Farming

The methods of organic farming decrease the release of such harmful gases by cutting the amount thereof into half. This is because they only utilize half (or lesser) the energy intended in producing energy, which is essential in making the same amount of food using conventional means.

Other non-organic farms often rely on artificial fertilizers because these improve crop production. Unfortunately, such fertilizers are a major contributor to the production of greenhouse gases. This happens to be caused by the necessary energy in the process of making such fertilizers, which contribute a great deal to increasing the level of carbon dioxide as well as nitrous oxide, a process that directly affects the immediate part of the atmosphere that living organisms depend on. In the same manner, when fertilizers are incorporated on soil, the land involved also becomes a part of the crisis since it releases harmful nitrous oxide. At the same time non-organic farms are compelled to add lime therein for the purpose of neutralizing the harmful elements in the soil. However, this process only releases more carbon dioxide. Moreover, fertilizers hinder the microorganisms in the soil to continue with the natural processes they undergo in their habitat. As a result, methane is released because the organisms responsible for regulating it are repressed.

However, good news is, carbon is stored in the soil during the process of organic farming. If the level of carbon stored therein increases, then the level of carbon released is reduced and so is the production of carbon dioxide. This only shows that people, especially farmers, should avoid soil mismanagement as this is a backdoor to massive carbon dioxide production. For this reason, farmers are encouraged to use organic fertilizers, thus helping the effects on global warming.