It is often thought that if carbon emissions were halted at current levels, the temperature would stabilize and the majority of the problems of climate change would be mitigated.  Many Americans believe that this is the case, as is exemplified in a study done by researchers at MIT.

Unfortunately, this is far from the truth.  Beyond the irreparable damage that has already been done to the Earth’s temperature by carbon emissions, there are other human activities that cause climate change than by simply burning fossil fuels.  Perhaps at the forefront of these “other” human sources of climate change is agriculture.

Agriculture emits large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, which also significantly contributes to global warming, and would not be solved by reduced fossil fuel consumption.  An article by Scientific American, in which a sociologist surveyed farmers’ opinions on Climate Change, found that most accept that Climate Change is occurring.  While most accept the facts of Climate Change, a majority of farmers disagree that action needs to be taken to prevent it.

While a majority of the Climate Change discourse is in regards to the burning of fossil fuels, there are several other aspects of the Carbon Cycle that is impacted by humans, and must be addressed in order to properly combat climate change.

Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-do-farmers-think-about-climate-change/