Effects of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on Climate Change and Animal Productivity and the Use of Radioisotopes to Measure it: A Review

Atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) are increasing, and the average global temperature is increasing. Consequently, nations are striving to make evidence-based decisions to achieve the emission reduction targets set by international agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. The principal GHGs are carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O), together with fluorinated gases. GHG emissions play a crucial role in climate change because they absorb infrared radiation from the Earth's surface, thereby increasing the amount of energy reaching the lower atmosphere and contributing to global climate change. Isotopic techniques are widely used to attribute GHG emissions to their sources. Stable isotope ratios (e.g., ¹³C/¹²C, ¹⁵N/¹⁴N) provide an isotopic “fingerprint” of the origin of CH₄ and N₂O, whereas radiocarbon (¹⁴C), which is absent from fossil fuels, distinguishes fossil-derived CO₂ from biogenic CO₂; when combined with atmospheric concentration data, these ratios allow the contribution of each source to be estimated. The World Meteorological Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency support GHG monitoring as part of global technical cooperation initiatives. Many nations cannot employ isotope tracking to monitor and analyze greenhouse gas emissions; international and regional collaboration is crucial for reducing the negative effects of climate change on environmental livestock production and animal health.