 |
|
Carnegie Mellon studies how climate change impacts food production
April 22, 2008Transportation impacts climate
PITTSBURGH-The old adage, "We are what we eat,'' may be the latest recipe for success when it comes to curbing the perils of global climate warming. Despite the recent popular attention to the distance that food travels from farm to plate, aka "food miles," Carnegie Mellon researchers Christopher L. Weber and H. Scott Matthews argue in an upcoming article in the prestigious Environmental Science & Technology journal that it is dietary choice, not food miles, which most determines a household's food-related climate impacts.
"Our analysis shows that despite all the attention given to food miles, the distance that food travels is only around 11% of the average American household's food-related greenhouse gas emissions,'' said Weber, a research professor in Carnegie Mellon's department of civil and environmental engineering and engineering and public policy.
The researchers report that fruit, vegetables, meat and milk produced closer to home rack up fewer petroleum-based transport miles than foods trucked cross country to your table. Yet despite the large distances involved-the average distance traveled for food in the U.S. is estimated at 4,000-5,000 miles -the large non-energy based greenhouse gas emissions associated with producing food make food production matter much more than distance traveled.
The authors suggest that eating less red meat and/or dairy products may be a more effective way for concerned citizens to lower their food-related climate impacts. They estimate that shifting to an entirely local diet would reduce the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions as driving 1,000 miles, while changing only one day per week's meat and dairy-based calories to chicken, fish, or vegetables would have about the same impact. Shifting entirely from an average American diet to a vegetable-based one would reduce the same emissions as 8,000 miles driven per year.
"Where you get your food from is a relevant factor in family food decisions, but what you are eating - and the processes needed to make it - is much more important from a climate change perspective,'' said Matthews, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon.
Carnegie Mellon University
The researchers report that fruit, vegetables, meat and milk produced closer to home rack up fewer petroleum-based transport miles than foods trucked cross country to your table. Yet despite the large distances involved-the average distance traveled for food in the U.S. is estimated at 4,000-5,000 miles -the large non-energy based greenhouse gas emissions associated with producing food make food production matter much more than distance traveled.
The authors suggest that eating less red meat and/or dairy products may be a more effective way for concerned citizens to lower their food-related climate impacts. They estimate that shifting to an entirely local diet would reduce the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions as driving 1,000 miles, while changing only one day per week's meat and dairy-based calories to chicken, fish, or vegetables would have about the same impact. Shifting entirely from an average American diet to a vegetable-based one would reduce the same emissions as 8,000 miles driven per year.
"Where you get your food from is a relevant factor in family food decisions, but what you are eating - and the processes needed to make it - is much more important from a climate change perspective,'' said Matthews, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon.
Carnegie Mellon University
Greenhouse Gas News and Current Greenhouse Gas Events RSSBreaking harmful bonds
Everybody loves the way breakfast eggs conveniently slide off of Teflon without leaving any pesky pieces of egg in the pan. Indeed, the carbon-fluorine bond at the heart of Teflon cookware is so helpful we also use it in clothing, lubricants, refrigerants, anesthetics, semiconductors, and even blood substitutes.
Why is Greenland covered in ice?
There have been many reports in the media about the effects of global warming on the Greenland ice-sheet, but there is still great uncertainty as to why there is an ice-sheet there at all.
Carnegie Mellon urges industry to broaden carbon footprint calculations
Carnegie Mellon University researchers are urging companies to embrace new methods for following the trail of dangerous carbon emissions that are responsible for much of the world's global warming threats.
Cataloguing invisible life: Microbe genome emerges from lake sediment
When entrepreneurial geneticist Craig Venter sailed around the world on his yacht sequencing samples of seawater, it was an ambitious project to use genetics to understand invisible ecological communities. But his scientific legacy was disappointing - a jumble of mystery DNA fragments belonging to thousands of unknown organisms.
Analysis of Lake Washington microbes shows the power of metagenomic approaches
Today's powerful sequencing machines can rapidly read the genomes of entire communities of microbes, but the challenge is to extract meaningful information from the jumbled reams of data.
Extinction threat growing for mankind's closest relatives
Mankind's closest relatives - the world's monkeys, apes and other primates - are disappearing from the face of the Earth, with some literally being eaten into extinction.
Carnegie Mellon researcher says China's export trade impacts climate
Carnegie Mellon University's Christopher L. Weber argues that China's new title as the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter is at least partly due to consumption of Chinese goods in the West.
Rising energy, food prices major threats to wetlands as farmers eye new areas for crops
Critical food shortages and growing demand for bio-fuels and hydro-electricity due to high fossil fuel prices rank among the greatest threats today to the preservation of precious wetlands worldwide as farmers and developers look for new areas for agriculture, energy crop plantations and hydro dams.
Amazon outflow is found to power ocean capture of carbon dioxide
Nutrients washed out of the Amazon River are powering huge amounts of previously unexpected plant life far out to sea, thus trapping atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a new study.
Cow power could generate electricity for millions
Converting livestock manure into a domestic renewable fuel source could generate enough electricity to meet up to three per cent of North America's entire consumption needs and lead to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), according to US research published today.
More Greenhouse Gas News Articles
 | Climate Change 2007 - The Physical Science Basis: Working Group I Contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC (Climate Change 2007) by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Climate Change 2007 volumes of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provide the most comprehensive and balanced assessment of climate change available. This IPCC Working Group I report brings us completely up-to-date on the full range of scientific aspects of climate change. Written by the world's leading experts, the IPCC volumes will again... |
 | Climate Change 2007 - Mitigation of Climate Change: Working Group III contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC (Climate Change 2007) by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Climate Change 2007 volumes of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provide the most comprehensive and balanced assessment of climate change available. This IPCC Working Group III volume is a state-of-the-art assessment of the scientific, technical, environmental, economic, and social aspects of the mitigation of climate change. Written by the... |
 | Degrees That Matter: Climate Change and the University (Urban and Industrial Environments) by Ann Rappaport, Sarah Hammond Creighton Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2007. Universities and colleges are in a unique position to take a leadership role on global warming. As communities, they can strategize and organize effective action. As laboratories for learning and centers of research, they can reduce their own emissions of greenhouse gases, educate students about global warming, and direct scholarly attention to issues... |
 | Leveling the Carbon Playing Field: International Competition and Us Climate Policy Design by Trevor Houser, Rob Bradley, Britt Childs, Jacob Werksman, Robert Heilmayr As political momentum surrounding climate change builds in the US, policymakers are taking a fresh look at national climate policy and American involvement in multilateral climate negotiations. And as in years past, the potential economic impact of any US effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions stands as a central question in the Washington policy debate. Of particular concern is the effect... |
 | Global Warming and Climate Change Demystified by Jerry Silver A non-heated discussion on global warming and climate changeInterested in getting to the core of the reasons for the Earth's changing climate? Want an accurate reading on the science behind global warming? Here's your gauge! This easy-to-follow guide offers a temperate view of this hot topic. Global Warming & Climate Change Demystified starts by looking at scientific data gathered from weather... |
 | The Global Carbon Cycle: Integrating Humans, Climate, and the Natural World (Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) Series) |
 | Hot Air: Meeting Canada's Climate Change Challenge by Jeffrey Simpson, Mark Jaccard, Nic Rivers Here’s a clear, believable book for Canadians concerned about our situation — and it offers a solution.It’s a brilliant mix. To “Canada’s best mind on the environment,” Mark Jaccard, who won the 2006 Donner Prize for an academic book in this area, you add Nic Rivers, a researcher who works with him at Simon Fraser University. Then you add Jeffrey Simpson, the... |
 | Harnessing Farms and Forests in the Low-Carbon Economy: How to Create, Measure, and Verify Greenhouse Gas Offsets by Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions As the United States moves to a low-carbon economy in order to combat global warming, credits for reducing carbon dioxide emissions will increasingly become a commodity that is bought and sold on the open market. Farmers and other landowners can benefit from this new economy by conducting land management practices that help sequester carbon dioxide, creating credits they can sell to industry to... |
 | Precious Air: The Kyoto Protocol and Profit in the Global Warming Game by Alan Reed IPPY National Gold Award Winner, Book of the Year by Independent Publisher. US Senator Pete Domenici writes: "Professor Reed has superbly assessed the complicated mechanisms of the Kyoto Treaty, dealing with global warming, whether you are an investor in 'carbon trading' or an interested citizen, you will learn how the Kyoto Treaty can shape international economics and individual responses to... |
 | Greenhouse Gas Carbon Dioxide Mitigation: Science and Technology by Martin M. Halmann, Meyer Steinberg Any mention of the "greenhouse effect" tends to ignite controversy. While the rising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases-especially carbon dioxide- are certainly among the most pressing issues today, theoretical and perceived consequences have been subject to conjecture and misinformation. That raging debate has obscured an important fact: scientists and engineers are hard at work on... |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |