This video presents the scientific basis of greenhouse gases and their link to agriculture. It explains the paradox of greenhouse gases: essential for maintaining a temperature compatible with life on Earth, they nevertheless become a major driver of climate change when their concentrations increase due to human activities. The video also highlights the often-underestimated role of agriculture, responsible for approximately 14% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, and presents the main gases involved: carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O). It also emphasizes the central role of soils, both as a source and a sink of greenhouse gases.

Greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture are primarily linked to soil management, livestock farming, and excessive fertilizer use. Sustainable agricultural practices such as reduced or no tillage help conserve soil carbon, while crop diversification improves soil structure and promotes carbon sequestration. More precise fertilizer management also significantly reduces emissions of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas. Furthermore, improved animal feed and the adoption of more organic practices contribute to lower methane emissions. Overall, these solutions provide both environmental benefits and improved soil health, productivity, and agricultural sustainability.

Purpose of this lesson is to explain why LCA matters in farming systems, how it works, and why it is especially useful when agriculture is studied on its whole, in terms of production, soil health, resource use, environmental impact and long-term resilience. The key idea here is that agriculture is a multifunctional activity, and thus, it can’ be assessed through a single indicator. 

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Agricultural sustainability can’t be understood by looking only at yield, and agricultural productivity can’t be evaluate only by the amount of product harvested. A productive system may rely on high inputs and generate substantial environmental burden, while a low-input system, while reducing some environmental burden, may require more land or more resources per unit of product. For this reason, productivity and sustainability must be analysed together, not as opposite concepts but as dimensions that interact at field, farm, territorial, value chain, and global scale.

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In this lesson we will focus on the long- and short-term effects of climate change on agriculture. The impacts of climate change in our world are already present, scientist have identified potential risks in both a long and a shorth term.Since agriculture is dependent on stable climatic patterns, quick changes in rainfall amount or temperature can drastically affect yields.