A new study from Deakin University has shown farm dams are a major contributor to climate change (due to microbes releasing carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) and with over 1.765 million farm dams in Australia, that’s a serious concern.

To put in it context that’s 5,000 square kms, holding 23 times the amount of water in Sydney harbour, and each dam produces roughly the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as a regular car.

In addition to shining a light on the problem, Deakin University’s Blue Carbon Labs are also promoting a solution. The study’s lead author, Quinn Ollivier, found that dam emissions were caused by dissolved nitrate concentrations, and were significantly higher on livestock farms, compared to cropping areas.

By “minimising excess fertilisation and containing animal effluent”, he estimates nitrate levels could be slashed, and emissions from dams could be halved.

Additionally, while the study found dams had one of the highest emissions of all freshwater ecosystems, they were not accounted for in any governmental greenhouse budgets.

That provided an “enormous opportunity” for governments to work with landholders to manage nutrients, Mr Ollivier said, adding farm dams “may be emitting three times more carbon into the atmosphere than freshwater reservoirs”. “Global satellite networks have only made it possible to correctly assess the distribution of farm dams in the past decade. Landholders may be able to reduce emissions by something as simple as re-plant-ation of native plants along dam edges, this could help to reduce the nutrients entering the dam and therefore the greenhouse gases coming out.”

Astronomical Agriculture School Excursion Alignment

It's this important work from Deakin University that we’ve emulated here at the Australian Agricultural Centre, and when primary school students attend our Astronomical Agriculture program, they’re aligned with this latest thinking, as well as the new NSW Curriculum.

NSW Curriculum Alignment for School Excursions

ES1

STE-SCI-01
Identifies and describes characteristics of living things, properties of materials, and movement

STE-PQU-01
Poses questions based on observations to collect data

STE-DDT-01
Identifies and uses technologies to make products to address user needs or opportunities

S1

ST1-SCI-01
Measures and describes changes in living things, materials, movement, Earth and the sky

ST1-PQU-01
Poses questions based on observations and information to investigate cause and effect

ST1-DAT-01
Collects, represents and uses data to identify patterns and relationships

ST1-DDT-01
Uses technologies and materials to design and make products to address user needs or opportunities

S2

ST2-SCI-01
Uses information to investigate the solar system and the effects of energy on living, physical and geological systems

ST2-PQU-01
Poses questions to create fair tests that investigate the effects of energy on living things and physical systems

ST2-DAT-01
Uses and interprets data to describe patterns and relationships

ST2-DDT-01
Uses a design process to create products to address user needs or opportunities

ST2-DDT-02
Designs and uses algorithms, represents data and uses digital systems for a purpose

S3

ST3-SCI-01
Uses evidence to explain how scientific knowledge can be used to develop sustainable practices

ST3-PQU-01
Poses questions to identify variables and conducts fair tests to gather data

ST3-DAT-01
Interprets data to support explanations and arguments

ST3-DDT-01
Uses design processes to create, evaluate and modify designed solutions

Extension Activities Cover

ST3-DDT-02
Creates, evaluates and modifies algorithms to code or control digital devices and systems

ST3-CWT-01
Creates written texts to communicate understanding of scientific and technological concepts and processes

Want to know when the next Astronomical Agriculture program is running…?

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