In this page, are some of the topics we are tasked to write in our Communication of Scientific and Technical Information class.
On genetically modified organism and biotechnology
According to Verma, et. al, biotechnology is the use of living organism/s or their product/s to modify or improve human health and human environment (2011). Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) added that biotechnology harnesses cellular and biomolecular processes to develop technologies and products that help improve our lives and the health of our planet (n. d.). Hence, biotechnology is essential as it does not only improve our life and well-being but also plants and animals that are vital for our survival. On the other hand, genetically modified organisms (GMO), one of the many applications of biotechnology are organisms such are plants, animals or microorganisms in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally ( WHO, 2014). While the Institute for Responsible Technology stated that GMOs is the result of a laboratory process of taking genes from one species and inserting them into another in an attempt to obtain a desired trait or characteristic (IRT, n. d.). GMO is sometimes called modern biotechnology, gene technology, recombinant DNA technology, genetic engineering or genetic modification. Thus, GMOs was employed to protect crops from infestation as well as to improve production.
So, what are
the benefits of biotechnology and GMOs? According to BIO, biotechnology helps
meet the society’s most pressing challenges through advanced medicine and
vaccines that can reduce the incidence of infectious diseases, saves millions
of children’s lives, combat serious illness and life-threatening conditions,
and develop precise tools for disease detection. Whereas GMOs help increase
crop production with fewer expenses, develop highly nutritious crops free of
allergens and toxins, and improve crop resistance to insects, diseases, extreme
weather conditions and tolerance from herbicides that would lower volumes of
agricultural chemicals that are destructive to the environment.
Biotechnology and GMOs made a breakthrough in medicine and agriculture that enormously contributed to the improvement of human and animal health, food and agriculture, and industry. However these two remain one of the most controversial issues worldwide due to ethical concerns, socio-economic issues, effects on the environment and food safety and human health. Combinations of plant-animal-human transgene to create vaccines and research involving embryos, fetal tissue, cloning is considered unethical. In addition, human subject on clinical trial is also being questioned on who controls their genetic information and how safe is the clinical procedure. Moreover, although some countries are utilizing genetically modified foods, its safety is still a concern. According to Smith, several studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food including infertility, immune problems, accelerated aging, insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system (n. d.). On the other hand, studies have shown that pesticide-producing crops contaminate bodies of water nearby, which may possibly affect aquatic life and may harm beneficial insects. Furthermore, cross-pollination between the transgenic crop and non-GM plants or weeds might trigger another plant or animal disease or even cause death or extinction. Lastly, Xue and Tisdell stated that the adverse consequences this biotechnology may pose to the sustainability of biodiversity and agriculture their potential impacts on socioeconomic welfare and traditional cultures is also a concern such as the practice of issuing patents in some developed countries with very broad rights over the use of this biotechnology might establish a powerful multinational company that would monopolize the market thus giving them more profit rather than benefit to the user(1999) .
Bt Talong or Bt Eggplant is one example of a genetically modified crop that sparked controversy here in the Philippines. Bt Talong contains Bt (bacillus thuringiensis) a common soil bacterium that contains a gene which produces a protein harmful to FSB (Eggplant Fruit and Shoot Borer). Scientists have fused this gene to eggplant to make it insect resistance thus enabling it to produce the same protein that makes it resistant to FSB. Because FSB feed on the leaf tissue and tunnel inside shoots and fruits leaving it dry and futile so farmers spray chemical insecticides every other day and dip unharvested eggplant fruits in a mix of chemicals to make sure its marketability. This practice is unacceptable and unhealthy to consumers, farmers, and the environment. Consequently, proponents of BT Talong debated that with their 10 years of field trial, they confirmed that it’s safe for human consumption, farm animals, and other non-target organisms as Bt protein only affects FSB. Additionally, it would increase production, reduce insecticide use, and increase farmers' income (ISAAA, n. d.). However in 2010, Greenpeace findings reported that Bt eggplant is potentially toxic to humans animals, to beneficial insects, and field trials will certainly lead to environmental contamination (2012). Together with other non-government organization, they filed a petition to Supreme Court where they were issued a writ of kalikasan and then held hearings. And in December 2015, the Supreme Court announced its decision wherein they said that scientists failed to come up with a consensus on the safety of Bt talong that current scientific research indicates that the biotech industry has not sufficiently addressed the doubts over the safety of genetically modified foods and crops. It further stressed that proponents simply followed the DA order but didn’t made a real effort to follow the National Biosafety Framework which is to conduct a transparent, meaningful and participatory public consultation with some residents and government officials, and failed to submit written comments. Therefore, SC permanently prohibits the government's field testing of Bt talong due to food safety reason while the agencies concerned was temporarily stopped from accepting applications for field testing, propagating, and importing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) until a new administrative order is created (Reformina, 2015).
References
Verma
et al. (2011, July). Biotechnology in the Realm of History. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3178936/
Biotechnology
Innovation Organization. (n. d.). What
is Biotechnology? Retrieved from http://www.bio.org/articles/what-biotechnology
Institute
for Responsible Technology. (n. d.). What’s
a GMO? Retrieved from http://responsibletechnology.org/gmo-education/faqs/
World
Health Organization. (2014, May). Frequently asked questions on genetically
modified foods. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/foodsafety/areas_work/food-technology/Frequently_asked_questions_on_gm_foods.pdf?ua=1
Silverman,
E. (2004, December). The 5 Most Pressing Ethical Issues in Biotech
Medicine. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3570985/
Glenn,
L.M. (2013, November). Ethical Issues in Genetic Engineering and
Transgenic. Retrieved from http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotechnology/glenn.html
Xue,
D. and Tisdell, C. (1999, August). Safety and Socio-Economic Issues Raised by Modern
Biotechnology. Retrieved from http://www.uq.edu.au/rsmg/docs/ClemWPapers/EEE/WP36.pdf
International
Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications. (n. d. ). Pocket K
No. 48: Bt Eggplant. Retrieved from https://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/pocketk/48/default.asp
Panopio,
J. A. and Mercado, S. M. (2012, May). Stakeholders speak: Keep the momentum for
BT Talong R&D. Retrieved from http://www.bic.searca.org/info_kits/articles_slides/2012_stakeholders_speak.html
Reformina,
I. (2015, December 8). SC permanently
stops field trials of Bt talong. Retrieved from http://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/12/08/15/sc-permanently-stops-field-trials-of-bt-talong
Greenpeace
Philippines. ( 2012, April 17). Bt talong unsafe and dangerous to environmental
health: report. Retrieved from http://www.greenpeace.org/seasia/ph/press/releases/Bt-talong-unsafe-and-dangerous-to-environmental-health-report/
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Challenges of Communicating Science and Technology to the Public
While Xanthea was walking down the corridor of Chemical Testing and Microbiological Testing laboratory. She I overheard two people arguing.
“You ruined
everything!” one man shouted angrily.
“That’s
because you’re such a horrible communicator!” the woman yelled.
Just shrugged her shoulders and told herself, “Oh, the scientist and the journalist again.”
Another day,
in the library she was reading an article in a magazine entitled Stakeholders
speak: Keep the momentum for BT Talong R&D and read it. One expert
statement caught my attention:
“That’s why if the Supreme Court would not understand our scientists’ explanations, we are unnecessarily penalizing ourselves, our farmers, and our industries of the ability to use technology for our national purposes.”
In then she asked herself, “Why can’t Supreme Court understand? There must be wrong!”
“How will the children get vaccinated if the parents refuse? This new vaccine is much better than the old one.” the upset midwife complained.
One BHW
replied, “Certainly, it’s just get one shot unlike the old one that the baby
needs to bear two shots.”
She thought they are talking new penta-vaccine (combination of Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus-Hepatitis B-Haemophilus influenza vaccines) for babies is now given for free in government health centers. Its all-in-one one shot compared to the old ones wherein the baby has to take shot for DPT (Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus) and one shot for Hepa-B which I agree is painful for babies. She found out later that some of the mothers hesitated to have their babies vaccinated with the said vaccine.
Stories above are some of challenges in communicating science and technology to the public. What I’m trying to tell is that Science Communication is never easy. The impact of science to people’s lives are growing but fears and misconceptions are also increasing. As Roy stated, a considerable measure of public mistrust of science and fear of technology exists today. Some is based on public experience, but much is communications gap between scientists and society, some are due to public ignorance or misunderstanding of science, and inaccurate or biased media coverage (1998).
As I googled the World Wide Web, many would tell me that communicating research is difficult for a number of reasons. One study revealed a serious lack of confidence by both scientists and journalists in the media's understanding of how science is done and how to interpret the results of research studies (Chappell C. and Hartz, J., 1999) This indicates that journalists have a hard time reporting scientific and technological discoveries in a readily understandable and useful way. This is also true as a study presented in Panos, Eastern Africa indicated that there’s a poor match between what researchers do and what ordinary journalists think of as news. It further added that researchers and journalists tell stories differently. How? The workshop revealed that researchers are somewhat shocked that while they indeed spoke on camera, they never really communicated while journalists realize that the questions they asked were not necessarily clear (Atim, n. d.). As Brownwell et al. said, science journalism is the main channel for the dissemination of scientific information to the public (2013). This entails that science journalism is one of the major vehicle that transports science and technology information to the public and a mutual understanding between the scientists and journalists is a must.
Long time ago, scientists once said that “solitude is still the school of genius.” But things have change, in this digital age we are in right now Brownwell et al. confer that communication of science to the general public is increasingly recognized as a responsibility of scientists (2013). Many would agree that scientists or researchers should get out from comfort zone and inform the stakeholders about their research and results. Furthermore, as Velasco et al. said that the public should interest themselves in getting abreast with science and technology information, improved communication must also begin with scientists themselves. Nevertheless, scientists claimed that communicating science to the public is not an easy task to do. They are often criticized for failing to discern the difference between jargon and everyday language. Moreover, developing skills to communicate science at a level that a general audience can understand requires deliberate practice and careful attention to language however most scientists do not receive formal training in science communication to the public (Chappell C. and Hartz, J., 1999). I consider this one factor that deters an effective science and technology communication since they are the source of such information. Therefore, how can science communicators communicate science if the scientists can’t even explain it in a comprehensible manner.
In addition, public’s mistrust to new science and technology information. They consistently question the accuracy and value of the information. Also, their political, economic, ethical, cultural and even religious viewpoints are holding them back to engage to new science and technology information. They are bound to their philosophical belief “to see is to believe”. One of my classmates Joan said that if you introduce a new technology in a community, the need to show them how it is done and how it would benefit them is essential in order to convince them to adapt such technology. In the case of the pentavalent vaccine scaring mothers, the health workers must present a living testimony that the said vaccine is much better than the other. According to Kaixun, public perception of science has direct effect on social progress and national prosperity, as has been proved since ancient times, even long, long before the appearance of modern science (1999). Thus the more skeptic a person is the less likely that person improve himself and livelihood, and contribute to the development of his community.
According to Atim, information is a right and a tool for sustainable development. For ordinary citizens to become involved in the debate around critical issues that affect them there must be information that will empower them to engage from an informed perspective (n d.). But what if the budget is small? One of my professors once said that many scientists migrate to other countries due to low budget for the research which is quite true as Yriart believed that trained scientists who, having achieved an international level of professional competence, end up emigrating, not because of salaries, even though they are about the lowest in their local scale, but because of lack of funding for their laboratories, libraries and field work (1999). Therefore, in case of large-scale problems like global change, most developing countries are unable to contribute to those scientific components requiring sophisticated research facilities and technologies (Roy, 1998). It is imperative for policy-makers to be informed on science and technology and its benefits and risks because they have the authority and power to pave the way to a better research and communication.
References
Roy, A. (1998, November 3). The
Role of Science and Technology in Society and Governance. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/science/wcs/meetings/eur_alberta_98_e.htm
Peters, H.P. (2012, May 22). Gap
between science and media revisited: Scientists as public communicators. Retrieved from http://www.pnas.org/content/110/Supplement_3/14102.full
Chappell
C. and Hartz, J. (1998, March 20). The challenge of communicating science to
the public. Retrieved from http://faculty.une.edu/cas/szeeman/GK-12/articles/Comm%20Sci%20to%20the%20Public.pdf
Brownell et al. ( 2013, October 15). Science Communication to the General Public: Why We Need to Teach Undergraduate and Graduate Students this Skill as Part of Their Formal Scientific Training. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3852879/
Atim, L. (n. d. ). Promoting Research Communication; Panos Eastern Africa’s Experience. Retrieved from http://panosrelay.org.uk/wp-content/static/2012/01/Promoting-Research-Communication-Panos-Eastern-Africas-Experience-Paper.pdf
Public Perception of Science: Between Acceptance and Rejection. (1999, July 1). Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/science/wcs/abstracts/II_1_perception.htm
Panopio, J. A. and Mercado, S. M. (2012, May). Stakeholders speak: Keep the momentum for BT Talong R&D. Retrieved from http://www.bic.searca.org/info_kits/articles_slides/2012_stakeholders_speak.html
Rogers, C. (1999, July 1). Communicating and Popularizing Science. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/science/wcs/abstracts/II_11_communicating.htm
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Rivers and lakes are the main source of
drinking water to humans and animals, and vital to agriculture and other
industries so as oceans and seas providing food to millions of Filipinos. Less
fresh water means less agriculture, food and income. Climate change creates
unpredictable effects to water systems such as extreme drought and flooding
causing displacement and conflict.
These phenomena are real, it’s happening now
around the world. Affording to Global
Greenhouse Warming (n. d.), more than 2,000 scientists have made it clear that
cuts of at least 50% to 70% in global greenhouse gas emissions are necessary to
allow our climate to re-stabilize. Hence, the Government should make every
effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
It’s high time to create or intensify policies in relation to the:
References
WWF Global. (n. d. ). When you change the climate you change everything. Retrieved from http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/aboutcc/problems/
An open letter to policy-makers
It is an innate behavior for every mother to
worry about her children; their safety, food, water and health security, and their
future. When she is sick, she cannot just stay on bed. She’s still has to get
up to prepare for children’s food, to make sure they are all set before going
to school. I am a mother so I know how hard it is to carry out everyday duty at
home, sick or not. Just like me and all mothers out there, mother Earth is also
feeling the same. Much difficult! Because she has to worry about her 7.2
billion children! And to make it worse, she’s already sick. Sick, with billions
of children to take care of. Thus, how she can provide food, water, good health,
and safe home to her children? She needs her children to help, she needs our
help, and she needs YOUR HELP!
Year after year, we witness how deadly
typhoon ravaged our country. Can you still remember? November 2013, Typhoon Yolanda
(Haiyan) landed and left with 6,340 dead and 1, 061 missing, and damaged infrastructure,
agriculture and properties worth 89 billion pesos. December 2012, super typhoon
Pablo the strongest cyclone to ever hit Mindanao killed 1, 100, displaced 800
more, and damaged infrastructures worth 42 billion pesos. Remember typhoon
Pepeng? It spilled the heaviest rain ever recorded, submerged several towns
into a river, and buried villages, homes, rice fields and people. Recently, the
nation was shocked by Kidapawan Protest. Farmers and Lumads went down from
their villages to seek relief from the local government due to the shortage of
food brought by El Niño. The destruction brought by heavy rainfall and long
drought is unimaginable. You’ve seen the firsthand, telling you right in your
eyes, CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL!
What is climate change?
According to Canada’s Action for Climate
Change (2015), climate change is the long term change in weather conditions
that are measured by changes on patterns of temperature, precipitation (rain or
snow), humidity, and wind direction. Climate change is caused by natural
processes, such as changes in the ocean currents, continental drift and volcanic
eruption, and human activities such burning of fossil fuels, agricultural
practices, landfills and more.
The build-up of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere is the primary cause for concern about climate change. The scientific
community agrees that climate change is due primarily to the human use of
fossil fuels (coals and oil), and agricultural practices and processes which
releases carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane building up more greenhouse
gases into the atmosphere.
Conferring to Greenpeace Philippines (2008),
farming such as overuse of fertilizers, and pesticides, land clearing, soil
degradation, and intensive animal farming is responsible for an estimated
8.5-16.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide. On the hand, the use of fossil fuel
especially burning of coals and oil in power plant to supply electricity and
fuels to car is responsible for the emission of huge amounts of greenhouse
gases and other pollutants. These greenhouse gases are then trapped into the
air causing the surface of the earth to become warmer. The processes and
buildup of greenhouse gases in the air is called Greenhouse Effect.
What is a greenhouse
effect?
The Greenhouse Effect occurs when the sun's
radiation enters our atmosphere, it heats our planet. When the Earth is hot, it
gives off some of its heat as radiation of its own. Some of this radiation
passes straight through the atmosphere and disappears off into space. However,
some is reflected back again by the "blanket" of greenhouse gases in
the atmosphere. The more greenhouse gases there are, the more heat is trapped
and the hotter Earth becomes.
The more greenhouse gases are produced and
released, the more the earth becomes warmer. And this has already created great
danger not only to humankind but everything around.
What are the effects of
climate change?
Climate change affects people and nature in many
ways, and increases existing threats that we already have at present.
1. Impact on water
1. Impact on water
2. Impact on the forest
Forests give us generous favor from purifying
our air, improving water quality, keeping soils intact, providing us with food,
wood products and medicines, and serving as home to many of the world’s most
endangered wildlife. Unfortunately, forests are being destroyed or damaged by
logging and burning releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxide and other harmful
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
2. Impact on food security
Climate change will have a significant impact
on food availability. The extreme weather conditions are expected to negatively
affect agricultural practices. It will affect human health and livelihoods, as
well as people’s purchasing power, food markets and food security at household
levels.
3. Impact on agriculture
Most farmers in the country rely on rain-fed
agriculture. Thus they are highly vulnerable to changes in climate variability,
seasonal shifts, and precipitation patterns affecting their livelihood and
income. Most of all, affecting the production of food and livestock essential
for human survival.
It’s high time to create or intensify policies in relation to the:
- Reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and from the transportation sector.
- Funding initiatives and incentive for alternative and renewable energy technology.
- Reduction of nitrous oxide and methane from agricultural practices and waste management.
The healing of mother earth is in your hands.
ACT NOW, or REGRET LATER!
References
Ceniza, C. (2014,
December 5). Top 10 deadliest typhoons that ravaged the Philippines. Retrieved
from http://tenminutes.ph/10-deadliest-typhoons-in-the-philippines/
Climate Change. (n. d.
). Climate change. Retrieved from https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/
WWF Global. (n. d. ). When you change the climate you change everything. Retrieved from http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/aboutcc/problems/
Greenpeace
International. (2008, January 8). Stop agriculture from killing the climate.
Retrieved from
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/agriculture-climate-change-global-warming-080108/
Global Climate Change.
(n. d. ). Climate change: How do we know? Retrieved from http://climate.nasa.gov/causes/
Canada’s Action on
Climate Change. (n. d. ). What is climate change? Retrieved from http://climatechange.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En&n=3F11F818-1#wsA11F48BC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Climate change, is it real?
You
wondered while watering your vegetables in the farm you spot some kind of a pest
you have never seen before or the usual cut flower you plant is not growing
like it did before. Sometimes you asked yourself why your rice harvest is
decreasing year by year. And you’ll complain, “Whey! Apay ngay nga kastoy?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Climate change, is it real?
Have
you ever wondered when sometimes the rain comes earlier than you expected or
the weather is still warm when you expect it should be cold?
While
watching TV or listening to radio you see or hear news about many disasters
caused by heavy rainfall or long dry season. Also, many places that were warmer
are now getting colder, and many colder regions are getting much colder or even
warmer and so you tell yourself, “Agkabawen ti panawen.”
These
phenomena according to scientists are the result of climate change. Climate change is not are not new to you. You
might have seen on TV or heard from the radio all the time. Is that right?
But what really is a climate change?
Climate change is the long term change in
weather conditions that are measured by changes on patterns of temperature,
precipitation (rain or snow), moisture, and wind direction. For example, in the
past the usual pattern of temperature in some areas in the Benguet and Mt.
Province every December to February is cold but lately you noticed warm
temperature in December and not so cold in January and February. In addition,
the usual rainy season starts from May until August but again the rains we are
expecting to arrive in May are just few drops and heavy rains comes August to
November. These changes are some of the signs of climate change.
What causes climate change?
The primary cause of
climate change is the burning of fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, which produces
greenhouse gases such carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Other human
activities in agriculture such as manufacture and use of pesticides and
fertilizers, fuel and oil for tractors, cutting down trees, converting
agricultural lands into residential lands, business industries that include
trucking and shipping, and electricity for lighting, cooling and heating are
major contributors to the increase of greenhouse gases such carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous
oxide. These greenhouse gases are then trapped into the air causing the surface
earth to become warmer. The warming of the earth’s surface is called Global
Warming caused by the processes and buildup of greenhouse gases in the
air which is called Greenhouse Effect. Subsequently, global warming causes climate
change.
How does greenhouse effect work? What does it
do to the earth?
The atmosphere is all
around us. It is the air we breathe. Naturally, there are already greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere. These gases behave like a giant piece of curved glass
wrapped right round the earth called blanket of greenhouse gases.
Greenhouse effect would be nothing to worry
about. It's a good thing. Without it, Earth would be much too cold to support
the living things that it does. But too much of it is dangerous!
Photo Credit [eSchoolToday]. Retrieved from http://www.eschooltoday.com/climate-change/effects-of-climate-change.html
So
how does greenhouse effect work?
First, when the sunlight enters the Earth’s
atmosphere, it passes through the blanket of greenhouse gases. Then, it heats
the earth. Once the earth absorbs the heat, it gives off some of its heat as
radiation of its own. Afterwards, some of this radiation passes straight
through the atmosphere and disappears off into space. But much of it remains
trapped in the atmosphere by the blanket of greenhouse gases. The more
greenhouse gases there are, the more heat is trapped causing the Earth to get
hotter. The increase of temperature on the surface of the earth or global
warming is adding up to climate change.
What
are the effects of climate change?
The
increase on the Earth’s temperature has huge effects. These include rising sea
levels; melting of snow and ice, more extreme heat events, fires and drought,
and more extreme storms, rainfall and floods. Also, because so many living
things are tied to climate, a change in climate can affect many related aspects
of where and how people, plants and animals live. It creates danger to human
health, forests, agriculture, and freshwater. Several researches say that
agriculture is one of the most in danger sectors affected by climate change.
Water availability, pests, disease, and extreme weather condition are all
likely to affect agricultural production. For example, a change in the usual timing
of rains or temperatures can affect when strawberries bloom and set fruit, or
when cut-flowers start flowering, when insects hatch or start pollinating or
when rivers are their fullest.
Climate change is real.
And YES, YOU CAN DO SOMETHING!
How can you help?
Here are some ways.
1.
No till-farming
 Photo Credit [The Washington Post]. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/11/09/no-till-farming-is-on-the-rise-thats actually-a-big-deal/ |
No-till farming
basically means you don’t cultivate your fields and you don’t remove the scraps
from the last harvest. Soil is capable of storing huge amount of carbon, once
it’s turned over; this carbon is released adding-up to the greenhouse gases to
the atmosphere.
Planting crops directly into the soil, surrounded by crop residues
from previous plantings allows farmers to save time, fuel, and labor and
decreases the amount of fertilizer that's needed too.
2.
Shift to organic farming
Organic farming reduces pollution and greenhouse gases released
from food production by restricting the use of artificial chemical fertilizers
and pesticides. The release of nitrous oxides and methane from agricultural or
grassland use of decomposed plants or humus can be avoided by organic farming.
3.
Use less fertilizer
Using less fertilizer and draining rice paddies helps reduce
methane. Methane in rice paddies is produced by microscopic organisms that
breathe CO2. And to maintain the nutrients of the soil, and to avoid using much
fertilizer, use cover crops (scraps from the last harvest) when fields are not
in use.
References
Department of Ecology. ( n. d. ) Climate change. Retrieved from http://www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/whatis.htm
Take Part. (n. d. ) What
is climate change? Retrieved from http://www.takepart.com/flashcards/what-is-climate-change
Climate Home. (2012, May 7). Can farmers fight climate change,
lower their CO2 emissions and keep the world’s growing population fed?
Retrieved from http://www.climatechangenews.com/2012/07/05/can-farmers-fight-climate-change-lower-their-co2-emissions-and-keep-the-worlds-growing-population-fed/
Grover, S. (2013, July 11). Retrieved from http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/6-ways-agriculture-impacts-global-warming.html
Greenpeace International. (2008, January 8). Stop agriculture from
killing the climate. Retrieved from http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/agriculture-climate-change-global-warming-080108/
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