However, despite strong support for the environment, proposed federal environmental legislation is rarely supported by rural Americans because their needs are often overlooked by federal policymakers.
In order to alleviate this issue and create representative environmental policy, rural leaders are calling for collaborative solutions between stakeholders and policymakers in order to accomplish national sustainability goals. But what do these collaborative solutions look like? And how are rural stakeholders involved in mitigating climate change? To answer these questions, EESI spoke with rural leaders from across the country in an attempt to highlight the important transdisciplinary work being done to address climate change.
Farming is what Fred Yoder knows best. As a fourth-generation Ohio farmer with over 40 years of experience, working on the land and producing food for a growing population is his expertise. To change his economic position, Yoder researched different farming methods to save money and came across no-till farming, which is an agricultural strategy aimed at growing crops while reducing soil turnover and erosion. He began implementing no-till on parts of his soybean fields and then slowly transitioned his corn and wheat fields until, eventually, his whole farm used the method.
In addition to reducing fuel and labor costs, no-till farming also retains nutrients in the soil and sequesters carbon, making it a viable conservation technique.
Despite the proven success of sustainable agriculture techniques, many farmers are hesitant to change their practices, citing perceived financial burdens as one of the main reasons. In order to get farmers to try sustainable farming practices, Yoder states economic incentives are vital. If it pays for itself, then he will consider it. Five global thought leaders give their solutions for the future.
W e are in the middle of the greatest demographic upheaval in human history. At nearly eight billion people, the global population has put a lot of demands on the planet. The enormous swathes of land required for traditional agriculture has been one of the main drivers of environmental degradation, habitat loss and the collapse of nature.
Climate breakdown has already been linked to smaller harvests. For farmers, it is not just the diet that suffers, but whole livelihoods. In India, climate change has been linked to higher suicide rates , as harvests fail and businesses fold. This is all happening already, with a world population of less than eight billion. Failing to allow everyone access to food, and wasting it as a result, has meant that despite producing an abundance, famine and hunger have not been eradicated.
These and other impacts can destabilize a variety of fragile ecosystems and wildlife habitats. Chemical Fertilizer Synthetic fertilizers containing nitrogen and phosphorus have been at the heart of the intensified farming from World War II to the present day. They are particularly effective in the growing of corn, wheat, and rice, and are largely responsible for the explosive growth of cereal cultivation in recent decades.
While these chemicals have helped double the rate of food production, they have also helped bring about a gigantic increase, perhaps as high as percent, of reactive nitrogen levels throughout the environment.
The excess levels of nitrogen and phosphorus have caused the once-beneficial nutrients to become pollutants. Roughly half the nitrogen in synthetic fertilizers escapes from the fields where it is applied, finding its way into the soil, air, water, and rainfall. After soil bacteria convert fertilizer nitrogen into nitrates, rainstorms or irrigation systems carry these toxins into groundwater and river systems. Accumulated nitrogen and phosphorus harm terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems by loading them with too many nutrients, a process known as eutrophication.
Nutrient pollution is a causal factor in toxic algae blooms affecting lakes in China, the United States, and elsewhere. Parts of the Gulf of Mexico are regularly afflicted in this manner.
Nitrogen accumulation in water and on land threatens biodiversity and the health of native plant species and natural habitats. In addition, fertilizer application in soil leads to the formation and release of nitrous oxide, one of the most harmful greenhouse gases. With the global population continuing to skyrocket, the tension will continue to grow between continued agricultural growth and the ecological health of the land upon which humans depend.
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