Agriculture Final Project

This topic submitted by Matt Carity, John Miller ( caritymr@muohio.edu, miller43@muohio.edu ) on 5/5/04 .

Global Climate Change -Western Program-Miami University

ABSTRACT

Agribusiness is a well-oiled machine, feeding America 's hungry and providing for other, possibly not-so-fortunate families around the world. As the business aspect of farming expands with technology and increasing knowledge, it seems that less attention is being given to the environmental effects of agriculture. By looking out for number one, are we, as a culture of consumers, altering the environment? Sure we are. Over-farming a parcel of land may lead to erosion problems as well as problems with soil fertility. By digging deep into the science and history of farming, and manipulating certain variables, we hope to further understand the impacts of crops on climate and vice versa. As the global warming problem seems to move on, relentlessly, methods for reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels seem like a likely outlet for the problem. By analyzing the effects of agriculture on the climate we hope to come to an understanding about possible means to use agriculture as a tool to limit atmospheric carbon dioxide. Plant photosynthesis relies on carbon dioxide as one of its major components. By increasing the amount of photosynthesis, it may be possible to harness more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Because corn is so ubiquitous, we will focus specifically on Zea Mays for our purposes.