This ACS Symposium Series title addresses global warming, one of the most pressing environmental concerns of our times. The agricultural sector is the largest source of global anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4), both of which are potent greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The book provides a comprehensive overview of important issues related to greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural systems, including measurement of greenhouse gas emissions in agricultural fields, development of alternative management practices as mitigation measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and greenhouse gas accounting methodologies and modeling.

Global climate change is a natural process that currently appears to be strongly influenced by human activities, which increase atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG), in particular carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Agriculture contributes about 20% of the world’s global radiation forcing from CO2, CH4 and N2O, and produces 50% of the CH4 and 70% of the N2O of the human-induced emission.