1
|
Domingo NGG, Balasubramanian S, Thakrar SK, Clark MA, Adams PJ, Marshall JD, Muller NZ, Pandis SN, Polasky S, Robinson AL, Tessum CW, Tilman D, Tschofen P, Hill JD. Air quality-related health damages of food. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2013637118. [PMID: 33972419 PMCID: PMC8158015 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2013637118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Agriculture is a major contributor to air pollution, the largest environmental risk factor for mortality in the United States and worldwide. It is largely unknown, however, how individual foods or entire diets affect human health via poor air quality. We show how food production negatively impacts human health by increasing atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and we identify ways to reduce these negative impacts of agriculture. We quantify the air quality-related health damages attributable to 95 agricultural commodities and 67 final food products, which encompass >99% of agricultural production in the United States. Agricultural production in the United States results in 17,900 annual air quality-related deaths, 15,900 of which are from food production. Of those, 80% are attributable to animal-based foods, both directly from animal production and indirectly from growing animal feed. On-farm interventions can reduce PM2.5-related mortality by 50%, including improved livestock waste management and fertilizer application practices that reduce emissions of ammonia, a secondary PM2.5 precursor, and improved crop and animal production practices that reduce primary PM2.5 emissions from tillage, field burning, livestock dust, and machinery. Dietary shifts toward more plant-based foods that maintain protein intake and other nutritional needs could reduce agricultural air quality-related mortality by 68 to 83%. In sum, improved livestock and fertilization practices, and dietary shifts could greatly decrease the health impacts of agriculture caused by its contribution to reduced air quality.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nina G G Domingo
- Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108
| | - Srinidhi Balasubramanian
- Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108
| | - Sumil K Thakrar
- Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108
| | - Michael A Clark
- Oxford Martin School, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
| | - Peter J Adams
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
| | - Julian D Marshall
- Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195
| | - Nicholas Z Muller
- Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
| | - Spyros N Pandis
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
| | - Stephen Polasky
- Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108
| | - Allen L Robinson
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
| | - Christopher W Tessum
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801
| | - David Tilman
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108
| | - Peter Tschofen
- Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
| | - Jason D Hill
- Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108;
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Clark MA, Domingo NGG, Colgan K, Thakrar SK, Tilman D, Lynch J, Azevedo IL, Hill JD. Global food system emissions could preclude achieving the 1.5° and 2°C climate change targets. Science 2020; 370:705-708. [PMID: 33154139 DOI: 10.1126/science.aba7357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 214] [Impact Index Per Article: 53.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The Paris Agreement's goal of limiting the increase in global temperature to 1.5° or 2°C above preindustrial levels requires rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Although reducing emissions from fossil fuels is essential for meeting this goal, other sources of emissions may also preclude its attainment. We show that even if fossil fuel emissions were immediately halted, current trends in global food systems would prevent the achievement of the 1.5°C target and, by the end of the century, threaten the achievement of the 2°C target. Meeting the 1.5°C target requires rapid and ambitious changes to food systems as well as to all nonfood sectors. The 2°C target could be achieved with less-ambitious changes to food systems, but only if fossil fuel and other nonfood emissions are eliminated soon.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael A Clark
- Oxford Martin School and Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
| | - Nina G G Domingo
- Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - Kimberly Colgan
- Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - Sumil K Thakrar
- Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - David Tilman
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.,Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - John Lynch
- Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Inês L Azevedo
- Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.,Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Jason D Hill
- Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| |
Collapse
|