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Greenhouse gas benefits of agricultural irrigation far outweigh emissions costs, study finds

Greenhouse gas benefits of agricultural irrigation far outweigh emissions costs, study finds
Phys.org Tuesday 15 September 2026, 18:20 UTC 1 min read
Key Points

Irrigating U.S. crops prevents higher greenhouse gas emissions by avoiding land conversion, new research by Colorado State University shows. Agricultural irrigation allows the United States to grow more food on less land. If irrigation were suddenly shut off, the land-use change required to make up for lost yields would produce significantly more greenhouse gas emissions than irrigation emits—363 times more.

Irrigating U.S. crops prevents higher greenhouse gas emissions by avoiding land conversion, new research by Colorado State University shows. Agricultural irrigation allows the United States to grow more food on less land. If irrigation were suddenly shut off, the land-use change required to make up for lost yields would produce significantly more greenhouse gas emissions than irrigation emits—363 times more.
U.S. (LOCATION) Colorado State University (ORG) the United States (LOCATION)
Originally published by Phys.org Read original →

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