How Could Draining Paddy Fields For Rice Growing Help Decrease Global Warming?
Global warming is caused by the increase in the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to industrial activity and pollution. The major greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide, but there are others, including methane, which is 21 times more potent at increasing global warming compared to carbon dioxide.. Methane is produced in many ways, but one major producer is the paddy fields of Asia that are used to grow rice, a staple food. About 100 million tonnes of methane are released into the atmosphere every year from paddy fields. People have found that draining the paddy fields have way through the growing season reduces the amount of methane produced by a significant amount. Draining the paddy fields in this way is not a traditional farming practice and could have lead to some opposition from die-hard farmers. However, the draining increased the yield of rice produced in the crops by quite a lot, so farmers are all for it.
