Categories: News

Farms see bigger harvests as coal pollution declines

570 million bushels. That’s how much additional corn, wheat, and soy farmers were able to harvest between 2005 and 2016, as nearby coal plants were decommissioned across the country, an amount equivalent to half a single year’s typical harvest. According to a feature in Anthropocene Magazine, new research has drawn a connection between higher crop yields and the ongoing transition away from coal-derived energy. Scientists suspect the link is due to air pollution: The gasses that electric coal facilities emit can have a “choking effect” on plants, reducing their ability to ward off pests and disease. Humans have benefited, too. Scientists also estimated that reduced coal-related air pollution saved about 26,610 lives in that same period.

Related Post
The Counter
Share
Published by
The Counter

Recent Posts

Grist acquires The Counter and launches food and agriculture vertical

Grist, an award-winning, nonprofit media organization dedicated to highlighting climate solutions and uncovering environmental injustices,…

6 months ago

Is California giving its methane digesters too much credit?

Every year, California dairy farms emit hundreds of thousands of tons of the potent greenhouse…

2 years ago

Your car is killing coho salmon

Highway 7 runs north-south through western Washington, carving its way through a landscape sparsely dotted…

2 years ago

The pandemic has transformed America’s dining landscape into an oligopoly dominated by chains 

One of the greatest pleasures I had as a child growing up in the Chicago…

2 years ago

California is moving toward food assistance for all populations—including undocumented immigrants

Undocumented immigrants experience food insecurity at much higher rates than other populations, yet they are…

2 years ago

Babka, borscht … and pumpkin spice? Two writers talk about Jewish identity through contemporary cookbooks.

Writer Charlotte Druckman and editor Rebecca Flint Marx are both Jewish journalists living in New…

2 years ago