The atmosphere carefully regulates temperature, light, radiation intensity and many other easily forgotten factors of life. Although it is a very thin layer, the atmosphere is a highly forgiving organ of planet earth, meaning the atmosphere absorbs and adjusts to a myriad of external influences without an immediate and direct impact. There is now clear evidence that the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased dramatically. Studies show that the atmospheric concentration of CO2 in 1750 was 280ppm and in 2008 had reached 380ppm. Other recent developments such as the thinning of the ozone layer, smog and general air pollution are almost forgotten and are unfortunately becoming an accepted fact of modern daily life.
The Sustainability Flower guidelines require a transparent reporting on:
- Total direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by weight
- Other relevant indirect greenhouse gas emissions by weight
- Initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reductions achieved
- Emissions of ozone-depleting substances by weight
- NOx, SOx and other significant air emissions by type and weight
- Total environmental protection expenditures and investments by type
Organic Agriculture and CO2 Emissions
Organic agriculture and its associated food chain, by definition free of synthetic and toxic inputs, provide a cleaner and greener production system with direct impact on air pollution and air quality.
By definition organic agriculture is free of synthetic and toxic inputs and therefore has a positive impact when it comes to avoiding air pollution. Furthermore, organic farming could play an important role in the mitigation of CO2. This is mainly due to the fact that organic agriculture uses compost. Compost has many benefits including an improved water holding capacity leading to less irrigation, lower energy requirements and the consequent related emissions. Furthermore, replacing highly polluting synthetic fertilizers with compost not only avoids direct N2O emissions (and fertilizer production-related emissions) but remarkably improves the soil’s ability to permanently store carbon. Advanced, humus- enriched soil management systems could reduce the atmospheric CO2 concentrations to where they were mid 18th century.