Global crop waste burning - micro-biochar; how a small community development organization learned experientially to address a huge problem one tiny field at a time.

ABSTRACT: The world's 2.5 billion poorest people - small farmers living at the far fringe of the developing world - and their billion or so slightly better off neighbors burn 10.5 billion metric tonnes (tonnes) of crop waste annually. Smoke from their fires reddens the sun, closes airports, shuts schools and governments - and kills millions of people (World Health Organization (WHO). who.int/health-topics/air-pollution#tab=tab_1). Their fires release 16.6 billion tonnes of CO₂, and emit 9.8 billion tonnes CO₂e, 1.1 billion tonnes of smog precursors and 66 million tonnes of PM2.5. (Akagi et al., Atmospheric Chem Physics 4039-4071, 2011; Environmental Protection Agency, epa.gov/ghgemissions/understanding-global-warming-potentials; Food and Agriculture Organization, FAOSTAT, http:

SUBMITTER: Shafer M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7680978 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature