Food production impacting Earth and its natural processes

Tom Fisk / Pexels - Food production is already one of the biggest stressors to our planet, but it's made substantially more challenging by the interaction of Earth system processes, according to new research. Earth system processes refer to the natural activities that keep the planet in a habitable and useful state. This includes processes occurring in the different biospheres like carbon sequestration in forests or nutrient run off into freshwater systems. The interactions between these processes challenge their boundaries, and effect how well they function. "Food production is a major cause of environmental stress, impacting on biodiversity loss, the climate and overexploitation of marine resources," co-author Dr Steven Lade from The Australian National University said. "We need to start producing food in a sustainable way. By assessing the interaction of Earth system processes we can ensure they are considered when designing and implementing food production and agriculture policy." The research, led by Aalto University in Finland, examined and characterised various Earth system processes, highlighting how they can be used when working toward more sustainable food production techniques.