# Agriculture PRODUCES more CO2???

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agriculture-produces-more-co2/705408>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 23, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agriculture-produces-more-co2/705408 "2014-11-23T16:33:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agriculture-produces-more-co2/705408/21 "2014-11-23T23:36:21Z")

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What is missing from the paper, as well as from known science, is where all [the missing CO2](http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/missing-carbon/) is going.

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**Author:** ![newme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e0b2c6/32.png) [@newme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newme)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agriculture-produces-more-co2/705408/22 "2014-11-24T00:59:45Z")

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> [@CC](#):
>
> If that’s all they’re saying, of course I understand. But the way the articles are written is extremely misleading or, I’d say, even inaccurate. It seems they were saying the plants release CO2 back into the atmosphere.

> [@CC](#):
>
> Here’s a quote from the NSF site: “They found that production of these crops in the Northern Hemisphere has more than doubled since 1961 and translates to about a billion metric tons of carbon captured and released each year.” What are they talking about? It sounds like they’re saying that all the CO2 captured by these crops is then released in the off-season. WTF?

Would it have been more clear to you if the quote had been ever so slightly changed:

“They found that production of these crops in the Northern Hemisphere has more than doubled since 1961 and translates to about a billion metric tons of carbon captured by the growth of plants and released by their subsequent decomposition each year.”

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**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agriculture-produces-more-co2/705408/23 "2014-11-24T01:05:27Z")

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Yes.

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**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/agriculture-produces-more-co2/705408/24 "2014-11-24T01:23:35Z")

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> [@Machine\_Elf](#):
>
> They do, after they die.

And when the sun isn’t shining. They convert that sugar right back to carbon dioxide as they respire.

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