Hmm, I wonder why Politico will recommend?
Rice Feeds Billions of People — but Its Role in Fueling Climate Change Is Growing
Rice feeds more than half the world. From terraced paddies in Southeast Asia to irrigated fields in China and India, it underpins daily meals for billions of people.
But the same flooded soils that help rice thrive also create ideal conditions for microbes that release climate-warming gases.
In a new study, ourteam ofenvironment andagriculture scientists found that greenhouse gas emissions from rice paddies have nearly doubled globally since the 1960s, averaging about 1.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions per year in the 2010s. That’s roughly equal to the annual emissions of 239 million cars.
This makes rice-growing the largest emissions source in agriculture outside of livestock, and rice demand is expected to keep rising.
OK, and?
Farmers have ways to reduce their rice crops’ emissions without lowering their yields. If every grower used the best currently available “climate-smart” options, we found that global rice emissions could be reduced by about 10% by midcentury. However, greater reductions are needed to slow climate change, which would require developing additional, more effective strategies.
And those are?
At the same time, rice farmers are using more fertilizers and organic amendments, such as straw and manure, planting more productive rice varieties and growing the plants closer together. The result is more rice but also more greenhouse gas emissions.
We found that one practice in particular – leaving rice stalks in the field after harvest and then plowing them into the soil to improve soil fertility – was responsible for about 18% of rice’s increase in overall net emissions since the 1960s. The reason: It increases the organic matter in the soil, which microbes then decompose, creating more methane emissions.
OK, so, make growing rice more inefficient. And, later on that is exactly what is recommended. How many people do the Warmists want erased, particularly in the developing world?
So what? Let the climate change, it’s going to anyway. Theres never been an appreciable length of time when the climate didnt change. All these horror-story predictions are based on computer models that about as reliable as middle-school science projects. A century from now, people will laugh at use ruefully for believing in Climastrology, for using artificial sweeteners and for driving electric cars.
So, what, starve Asia to save Mother Gaia?
Rice growing is not just the staple food for Asia, but it is the staple crop for millions of mostly poor farmers. The farmers of Asia don’t have the money or resources to change how they grow crops.
#1 climate models do not make predictions, they make projections. They are not the same.
#2 in 1990 the 1st IPCC asessment estimated an increase of 1.1 C by 2030. It has gone up https://berkeley-earth-wp-offload.storage.googleapis.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/13155626/GreenhouseGas-vs-Observations2025.png1.3
You probably also have a confirmation bias
Ginger you were misinformed about the inaccuracy.
Code Error!
Did you bother to check the yield difference vs the cost difference? Fertilizer costs went up 66% in 2022. I am sure you remember. This year the fertilizer especially urea will double IF it is available. Trump’s Iran war has skyrocketed fertilizer prices. What are you paying this year? It was 375$ Jan now close to 600
T what fertilizer price will sustainable price be equal to rice based on fossil fuel fertilizer?
The price we’re willing to pay.
Iran has been “months” away from a nuke for over 20 years. want to bet that Iran keeps its enriched U235? Iran is demanding 24 billion cash. 1/2 up front. Think they will get it? I do.
Don’t mess with mother nature. This happens for a reason. Get over it.
We should encourage the climate loonies to boycott every food that they have an issue with. Since this covers 95% of foodstuffs (guaranteed that they will sooner or later get around to all of them), the result will eventually be no more climate loonies to whine about it.
Bummer wacko Trump’s war to distract from Epstein files have caused global fertilizer costs to double. Food prices especially rice “skyrocketing”!!!
We should encourage supporters of wacko Trump to continue to embarass themselves by posting. Each post makes their support of Trump further reduce his hideous pol numbers.