African rice cultivation linked to rising methane

2023/07/20 by Zichong Chen, Chen, Zichong, Nicholas Balasus +7 · 1 citation
Environmental Science · #Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact #Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics (physics.ao-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2307.11232

openalex publication_date 2023/07/20 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

Africa has been identified as a major driver of the current rise in atmospheric methane, and this has been attributed to emissions from wetlands and livestock. Here we show that rapidly increasing rice cultivation is another important source, and estimate that it accounts for 7% of the current global rise in methane emissions. Continued rice expansion to feed a rapidly growing population should be considered in climate change mitigation goals.

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