ENV 582b () / 2025-2026

Natural Climate Solutions in Agricultural Landscapes: A Survey of Practices

Credits: 1.5 Spring 2026: Tu, 12:00-2:00, 380 Edwards

Climate change has already dramatically altered the world and without appropriate mitigation efforts, these catastrophic disruptions will continue to grow, wreaking havoc on people and the planet. It is now clear that to combat climate change we will need to both reduce emissions and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. A variety of carbon dioxide removal (CDR) practices in the agricultural sector have gained traction in recent years, however, questions remain as to how they function, what is their carbon removal potential, and what are the positive or negative impacts they may have on agricultural productivity.  Natural climate solutions (NCS) such as agroforestry, biochar, compost, conservation tillage, cover crops, enhanced rock weathering, and seaweed farming are a few agricultural practices that have been purported to provide carbon dioxide removal while creating co-benefits for food production and ecosystem health. Still, some practices come with tradeoffs; for instance, compost may increase forage production but also CO2 emissions, while cover crops may store carbon but compete with crops for nutrients and water. Furthermore, increasing adoption of these practices and scaling them to levels that can impact the climate remains a difficult hurdle. As the rate of CO2 emissions continues to rise, it will be critical to develop and implement carbon dioxide removal technologies in the near future. This forum aims to provide a survey of natural climate solution practices in agriculture and explore questions such as:
·         What are common NCS practices in agriculture and how do they work?
·         What co-benefits do NCSs provide in agriculture?
·         What is the climate mitigation potential of NCSs in agriculture?
·         How is the CDR potential from NCS measured?
·         Are there tradeoffs to implementing NCSs in agriculture?
·         How do NCSs affect soils and greenhouse gas emissions?
·         Can individual NCS practices be combined for greater effectiveness?
·         What logistical steps are needed to implement these practices on farms?
·         What does it take to get involved in carbon markets and enroll in programs that support NCS implementation?