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Global rice paddy greenhouse gas emissions have doubled during the past six decades
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1129249Practical farming changes can render cleaner cultivation and reduced emissions without sacrificing global food production, Boston College researchers report
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, Mass (5/22/2026) – Rice paddy greenhouse gas emissions have doubled during the past 60 years—but practical farm changes could cut methane emission and support global climate targets without reducing food production, a team led by Boston College scientists reports today in the journal Nature Food.
Rice feeds more than half the world's population, but has a growing climate footprint. Flooded paddies emit methane and nitrous oxide, two powerful greenhouse gases. As rice farming intensifies worldwide, understanding its methane footprint—and how to reduce it without threatening food security—has become a global priority.
“Our goal was to understand the full climate impact of rice systems—not just methane, but all major greenhouse gases together—and to identify realistic pathways for mitigation,” said Boston College Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences Hanqin Tian, lead author of the report and director of the Center for Earth System Science and Global Sustainability at the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society.
Since the 1960s, greenhouse gas emissions from rice paddies have doubled to approximately the equivalent of 1.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually, the researchers report. Methane is a major contributor, particularly in regions such as East Asia, while Africa is emerging as a new hotspot due to expanding rice cultivation, according to the study.
…
Zhang, J., Tian, H., Liang, XZ. et al. Global rice paddy greenhouse gas emissions have doubled over the past six decades driven by area expansion and intensified residue incorporation. Nat Food (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-026-01355-8Peer-Reviewed Publication
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, Mass (5/22/2026) – Rice paddy greenhouse gas emissions have doubled during the past 60 years—but practical farm changes could cut methane emission and support global climate targets without reducing food production, a team led by Boston College scientists reports today in the journal Nature Food.
Rice feeds more than half the world's population, but has a growing climate footprint. Flooded paddies emit methane and nitrous oxide, two powerful greenhouse gases. As rice farming intensifies worldwide, understanding its methane footprint—and how to reduce it without threatening food security—has become a global priority.
“Our goal was to understand the full climate impact of rice systems—not just methane, but all major greenhouse gases together—and to identify realistic pathways for mitigation,” said Boston College Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences Hanqin Tian, lead author of the report and director of the Center for Earth System Science and Global Sustainability at the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society.
Since the 1960s, greenhouse gas emissions from rice paddies have doubled to approximately the equivalent of 1.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually, the researchers report. Methane is a major contributor, particularly in regions such as East Asia, while Africa is emerging as a new hotspot due to expanding rice cultivation, according to the study.
…