Savannah: There's a huge greenhouse gas problem with...growing rice. Yeah, turns out rice crops are responsible for about 10% of global, human-caused methane emissions, which really stinks.

Rice is grown in flooded fields partially because the water acts as a weed deterrent. But flooded fields cut off soil's oxygen supply, so it's the perfect place for anaerobic bacteria to grow and ferment, and the main byproduct of anaerobic fermentation is...methane gas.

As the rice plants pull oxygen into their roots through spongy, straw-like structures call "aerenchyma," methane travels up those aerenchyma and into the air. Scientists still aren't sure exactly how methane transfer works in rice plants and which currently-used varieties are the worst methane offenders, but we do know that the amount of methane given off varies in different strains, so it may be possible to breed new kinds that are less potent. Hopefully, we can identify or even create new strains that feed people who rely on rice with less of a gas problem.

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