Publication: Climate Change Images

Concern has mounted in recent decades regarding the emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere through human activities. Modern agriculture has contributed to these emissions with the release of CO₂ from soils during land clearing and annual tillage operations. Nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions are also on the increase with the elevated use of nitrogenous fertilizers and irrigation in crop production systems.

QUT's Institute for Sustainable Resources has been undertaking ground breaking research on greenhouse gas emissions with the cotton industry funded by both the Cotton Resesearch & Development Corporation and the Australian Greenhouse Office. This research utilises one of the few portable, fully-automated greenhouse gas monitoring systems in the world, developed in conjunction with the Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research in Germany.

Australia's first Professor of Global Change (Peter Grace) was appointed by QUT in 2005. A position dedicated to internationally recognised climate change research.