A global platform for the Circular Bioeconomy
Friday, May 20, 2022
Bio Market Insights
  • Home
  • Insights
    • Feature Stories
    • 5 Minute interviews
    • Bio Market Insights Magazine
    • Reads & Resources
    • Reports
  • News
    • Technology
    • Business
    • Investment
    • Regulation
  • Market Meetups
    • World Bio Market Meetup 2021
  • BMI TV
    • Bio Market Insights TV
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
  • Newsletter
    • Subscribe and Past Issues
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
  • Community Partners
  • World Bio Markets 2022
  • About us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Insights
    • Feature Stories
    • 5 Minute interviews
    • Bio Market Insights Magazine
    • Reads & Resources
    • Reports
  • News
    • Technology
    • Business
    • Investment
    • Regulation
  • Market Meetups
    • World Bio Market Meetup 2021
  • BMI TV
    • Bio Market Insights TV
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
  • Newsletter
    • Subscribe and Past Issues
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
  • Community Partners
  • World Bio Markets 2022
  • About us
No Result
View All Result
Bio Market Insights
No Result
View All Result
Home Regulation

Cleaner Air Causes Crop Increase Worth $5bn per year

by Bio Market Insights
11 months ago
in Regulation
Reading Time: 2 mins read
Cleaner Air Causes Crop Increase Worth $5bn per year

Close up photo of soybean plant lit by warm sun light

A study conducted by Stanford University found that due to falling air pollution levels, soybean and corn crop yields in the US saw an increase of 20% between 1999 and 2019 – an amount that would add $5bn to the industry every year. 

The research, which was funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation, was published earlier this month in Environmental Research Letters. The findings could hopefully inform future technologies and practices to ensure steady crop yields.

“Air pollution impacts have been hard to measure in the past, because two farmers even just 10 miles apart can be facing very different air quality. By using satellites, we were able to measure very fine scale patterns and unpack the role of different pollutants,” said study lead author David Lobell in a Stanford press release. Lobell is the Gloria and Richard Kushel Director of the Center on Food Security and the Environment.

The satellites focused on nine states; Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin, which produce around two-thirds of the country’s maize and soybean output. In the course of the study, the impacts of ozone, particulate matter (such as dust or soot), nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide on the crops were studied. 

“This has been a tricky problem to untangle because historically our measurements of different types of air pollutants and our measurements of agricultural yields haven’t really overlapped spatially at the necessary resolution,” said study co-author Jennifer Burney, an associate professor of environmental science at the University of California, San Diego. “With the new high spatial resolution data, we could look at crop yields near both pollution monitors and known pollutant emissions sources. That revealed evidence of different magnitudes of negative impacts caused by different pollutants.”

The findings estimate that total yield loss for maize was an average of 5.8% and 3.8% for soybean in the period examined- losses that declined as the air got cleaner. The team point to the 1990 Clean Air Act as a pivotal moment in air quality beginning to improve. 

“We already know that the Clean Air Act resulted in trillions of dollars of benefits in terms of human health, so I think of these billions in agricultural benefits as icing on the cake,” Lobell said. “But even if it’s a small part of the benefits of clear air, it has been a pretty big part of our ability to continue pushing agricultural productivity higher.”

Tags: News
ShareShareTweet
Previous Post

TotalEnergies, Veolia Partnership to Develop Microalgae-based Biofuel

Next Post

New Zealand’s Packaging Forum backs Plastic Phase-out

Next Post
New Zealand’s Packaging Forum backs Plastic Phase-out

New Zealand’s Packaging Forum backs Plastic Phase-out

Latest News

Researchers Are Developing Nanotech for Textiles

Researchers Are Developing Nanotech for Textiles

May 20, 2022
Seacycled Sperry’s Collection Made Of Sustainable Materials

Seacycled: Sperry’s Collection Made Of Sustainable Materials

May 19, 2022
Preparation of bioplastic consisting of salmon milt DNA

Preparation of bioplastic consisting of salmon milt DNA

May 19, 2022
Ground broken on project leading to conversion of biogas into renewable natural gas

Ground broken on project leading to conversion of biogas into renewable natural gas

May 19, 2022
  • Home
  • Insights
  • News
  • Market Meetups
  • BMI TV
  • Newsletter
  • Community Partners
  • World Bio Markets 2022
  • About us

Please note: Bio Market Insights is owned and operated by TNP Media Ltd, after being acquired from Quantuma in April 2021.

Follow us

© Bio Market Insights

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Insights
    • Feature Stories
    • 5 Minute interviews
    • Bio Market Insights Magazine
    • Reads & Resources
    • Reports
  • News
    • Technology
    • Business
    • Investment
    • Regulation
  • Market Meetups
    • World Bio Market Meetup 2021
  • BMI TV
    • Bio Market Insights TV
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
  • Newsletter
    • Subscribe and Past Issues
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
  • Community Partners
  • World Bio Markets 2022
  • About us

© 2021 Bio Market Insights