Cover cropping and the “4 per Thousand” proposal

Climate change, caused by anthropogenic emissions through fossil fuel combustion and land use conversion including deforestation, is a major global issue of the twenty-first century. Estimates of anthropogenic emissions for 2014 include about 10 Pg (11 billion tn) of carbon (C) through fossil fuel combustion and ~1 Pg (1 billion tn) C from deforestation and land use conversion. Cumulative emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) for the period of 144 years from 1870 to 2014 is estimated at 545 ± 55 Pg C (600 ± 61 billion tn C; 2,000 ± 200 Pg CO2 [2,200 ± 220 billion tn CO2]), about 75% from fossil fuel combustion and about 25% from land use change (Le Quéré et al. 2014). Agricultural activities contribute, both directly and indirectly, about 30% of the total anthropogenic emissions (IPCC 2014). Therefore, agriculture must be integral to any agenda to mitigate the climate change.