Carbon Footprint from China's Irrigation Systems

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120313230400.htm

Recent research on China's irrigation systems, done by the University of East Anglia, has revealed that CO2 is being emitted at an alarming rate. China, the second largest agricultural country, relies heavily on the pumping of water. Pollution from these irrigation systems accounts for 17 percent of China's carbon emission. With China being the number one greenhouse gas emitter in the world, this amount of pollution derived strictly from agriculture is astronomical. The study revealed that China's carbon emission as a product of irrigation was 33.1 mega tonnes. This is only .5% of China's overall carbon emissions and to put this into perspective, this 33.1 mega tonnes is the amount of CO2 that New Zealand emits in a whole year.

China, the number one carbon emitter in the world, will only continue to pollute. Regulations need to be set in place to control the carbon emissions in China's irrigation systems. Although it is a miniscule portion of their carbon emissions, the amount of water pumped through their irrigation systems continue to grow, and thus, this issue needs to be handles with a sense of urgency.