Agricultural Non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases: Sources and Consequences

The growing concern of climate change and global warming has been finely alarmed in the latest report of IPCC. Climate change and global warming has been stated to be the ultimate threat to mankind and planetary systems. The overshoot of atmospheric temperature, flood, drought, heat stress, etc., are few of the repercussions of global warming as found in consensus through various literatures. The emission of GHGs through human interventions have been found guilty every time whenever such events have occurred. This chapter deals with such likely GHGs which are not CO2 gases such as methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), especially released from agriculture. The agricultural system is the backbone of food security, be it through farming or livestock. Simultaneously, the rapid eruption of global population have put a stress on agriculture to produce food at an accelerating rate. Therefore, the constant release of such non-CO2 gases from different sources of agriculture has been detailed in this chapter. This chapter puts a limelight on various technologies that are involved in quantifying CH4 and N2O from different sources of agriculture. On a similar note, the chapter has adequate explanation for different consequences generated from the release of non-CO2 gases from agriculture. The major consequence is the deterioration of soil health, risking our food security. Thus, such alarming consequences should be addressed through sustainable agriculture as proposed by the authors of this chapter. The integration of sustainable development and mitigation cum adaptation to climate change and global warming, ensuring food and soil health security, is the only that is believed to reduce such non-CO2 gases emissions.