Greenhouse gases have harmful effects on environment. If these gases are increased increase the temperature of atmosphere which is the cause for melting of ice in the polar region ultimately rises the sea levels. The depletion of ozone layer is another detrimental effect of these gases. However, is there any relation in between these gases and crop production?
The main contributor to global warming is carbon dioxide. ... While the majority of global warming activities give off carbon dioxide, the agricultural sector primarily emits CH4 and N2O. Livestock such as cattle produces methane as part of their digestion cycle.
Studies have shown that higher concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide affect crops in two important ways: they boost crop yields by increasing the rate of photosynthesis, which spurs growth, and they reduce the amount of water crops lose through transpiration.
In experiments with elevated carbon dioxide levels, protein concentrations in wheat, rice, barley, and potato tubers, decreased by 5-14% (Taub, D., Miller, B. et al. "Effects of elevated CO2 on the protein concentration of food crops: a meta-analysis." Global Change Biology 14, (2008): 565-575)
Over the last century, global background ozone concentrations have become 2 times larger due mainly to increases in methane and nitrogen oxides caused by human emissions (West, J. J.. "Global health benefits of mitigating ozone pollution with methane emission controls." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103, no. 11 (2006): 3988-3993). Recent studies estimate that the global yields of key staple crops, like soybean, maize (corn), and wheat, are being reduced by 2-15% due to present-day ozone exposure (Avnery, Shiri, Denise L. Mauzerall, and Arlene M. Fiore. "Increasing global agricultural production by reducing ozone damages via methane emission controls and ozone-resistant cultivar selection." Global Change Biology 19, no. 4 (2013): 1285-1299)
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