Mexico’s Wheat Fields Releasing A Dangerous Greenhouse Gas

"CIUDAD OBREGÓN, Mexico — In the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountains, the carcasses of starving cattle rotted in a bone-dry reservoir. Useless fishing nets hung on dusty fences. Rowboats were stranded in the sand.

Down on the valley floor, Rafael Parra bent to the work of feeding the world — and unintentionally warming it.

A layer of chalk-white fertilizer had been scattered on the barren ground. Tractors had cut long furrows in the dry and crumbling soil. The wheat seeds would not be planted for days, but it was time to release the laughing gas."

Joshua Partlow and Chris Mooney report for the Washington Post with photos by Luis Antonio Rojas December 22, 2021.

Source: Washington Post, 12/23/2021