Burning crops in province danger to the environment

According to an American climate change report, farmers in Saskatchewan need to
stop burning their crops and use alternative techniques that are gentler on the environment.
The report was published in May by the Clean Air Task Force (CATF), who have found that the burning of crops in Saskatchewan are contributing to the melting of the Arctic ice.
By tracking the smoke plumes, the Boston-based scientists were able to discover that the agricultural fires, used to clear brush is creating a black carbon that is contributing to the acceleration of melting the glaciers.
Ellen Baum is one of the scientists
with CATF who has worked with the issues surrounding the Arctic for the past five years. She emphasized that the emissions coming from Canada is minor at 1.2% between 2004 and 2007, as opposed to Russia at 81.4 % of total global black
carbon emissions.
However, anything that can be done to slowdown the melting must be done before it is too late, said Baum.
"We're losing the whole Arctic structure at this point," said Baum, who explained that research had been done to prove that areas such as Greenland could experience an 80 per cent melt within the next two centuries, "which is must faster than I would have ever thought a couple of years ago."
Researchers found that it is the burning of
crops, specifically during Spring, that is most threatening. The plumes deposit
soot that rest on the ice walls and quickens the onset of the spring
melt.
"There is only one type of crop here that typically farmers burn, and that's flax," said professor of soil science at the University of Saskatchewan Dan Pennock.
He explained that flaxseed doesn't decompose as easily as other crops, so often the only solution is to burn the residue.
According to Statistics Canada, farmers in the prairie provinces reported a 10.3% increase in the area seeded to flaxseed. It equates to 1.7 million acres.
Baum listed biochar, a method of drawing carbon from the atmosphere while storing it in soil, and crop gasification as two methods to reducing the impact of
agricultural farming.
"There are certainly some pilot projects in
Saskatchewan right now to convert crops into various forms of biofuels," said
Pennock; however, he added that it will take time for technology and resources
to become available to the majority of Saskatchewan farmers. He predicted this
would take at least two decades.
Baum, who has worked with CATF since its
inception in 1996, hopes Agricultural Fires and Arctic Climate Change report
will create awareness about the effects of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gasses.
CATF is a nonprofit organization that focus on scientific research leads to a healthy environment.