Agriculture accounted for an estimated 10.5 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2022

Farming activities in the United States accounted for 10.5 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2022. From 2021 to 2022, agricultural greenhouse gas emissions decreased from 681.6 to 663.6 million metric tons (MMT) of carbon dioxide equivalent and decreased from 10.8 percent to 10.5 percent as a share of the entire U.S. economy’s emissions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated that in 2022, agriculture emitted 309.1 MMT directly as nitrous oxide (N2O), 277.0 MMT directly as methane (CH4), 47.9 MMT directly as on-farm carbon dioxide (CO2), and indirectly emitted 29.7 MMT through electricity the agricultural sector uses. Agricultural practices that emit nitrous oxide include nitrogen fertilizer application and manure management. Major sources of agricultural methane emissions include enteric fermentation, manure management, and rice cultivation. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has identified the industrial sector as the largest sectoral contributor to total greenhouse gas emissions (29.5 percent), followed by transportation, commercial, residential, agriculture, and U.S. territories (listed as a group because no specific consumption data can be attributed within the territories). Total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 were 0.2 percent greater than they were in 2021. This chart appears in the USDA, Economic Research Service topic page Climate Change.

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