Using GIS to Assess the Contribution of Farming Activities towards Climate Change in the State of Mississippi

Edmund C. Merem *

Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Jackson State University, 3825 Ridgewood, Jackson MS, 39211, USA.

Chandra Richardson

Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Jackson State University, 3825 Ridgewood, Jackson MS, 39211, USA.

Corney Romarno

Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Jackson State University, 3825 Ridgewood, Jackson MS, 39211, USA.

Joan Wesley

Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Jackson State University, 3825 Ridgewood, Jackson MS, 39211, USA.

Yaw Twumasi

Department of Agriculture and Advanced Technologies, Alcorn State University, MS, USA.

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.


Abstract

The study uses primary data, descriptive statistics, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and correlation analysis to analyze the contributions of farming activities to climate change in Mississippi between 1992 through 2002. This involved the assessment of methane emissions from rice cultivation in the state of Mississippi as well as the relationship between the levels of methane gas concentration and other variables associated with rice production. In highlighting the extent to which rice production activities fuel climate change, the results of the study not only showed greenhouse gas emission related rice production activities to be on the rise, but there is a relationship between methane emissions and rice farming. The GIS analysis also points to a visible concentration of rice production activities associated with methane emissions in the major counties of Bolivia, Sunflower and Washington along the Northwest portion of the state. While this raises the threats of climate change predictors in the area. To remedy the problems, the paper suggests five future lines of actions from the need for education to the promotion of emission trading.

Keywords: GIS, rice farming activities, climate change, agriculture, rice production, descriptive statistics, assess


How to Cite

Merem, Edmund C., Chandra Richardson, Corney Romarno, Joan Wesley, and Yaw Twumasi. 2012. “Using GIS to Assess the Contribution of Farming Activities towards Climate Change in the State of Mississippi”. International Journal of Environment and Climate Change 2 (2):113-36. https://doi.org/10.9734/BJECC/2012/1371.