Is Climate Change Reversible? Can Regenerative Agriculture Farming Solve the Climate Crisis?
Author: Greg Reitman | Posted on: January 19, 2015
How to deal with our carbon problem in lieu of climate change was the big question being asked on Monday September 22nd at the Rodale Institute.
We heard from such speakers such as Dr. Vandana Shiva; Ronnie Cummins of the Organic Consumers Association; Mark Smallwood, the head of the Rodale Institute; Andre Leu of IFOAM; Dr. Richard Teague from Texas A&M University; and Tom Newmark, Co-Founder, The Carbon Underground.
Scientists and world leaders of agrarian reform met to discuss how to reverse climate change by bringing excess atmospheric CO2 back home to the soil, where, as soil carbon, it can improve food production, resilience to climate extremes, and water management. And yes, actually, quickly remove the perilous excesses of CO2 that threatens humanity.
Tom Newmark led the presentation with an analogy: imagine a morbidly obese patient going to a physician. Weighing 400 pounds, the patient struggles daily and fears for the future. The physician makes the obvious diagnosis: you’re severely overweight, he tells the patient. You need to go on a diet! So the doctor then maps out a diet that will keep the patient from gaining any more weight, but will keep him at 400 pounds. The patient is bewildered, but that’s all the physician has to offer. Just don’t gain any more weight.