Papers
33
Citations
11,392
Last 3 yrs · papers
4
Last 3 yrs · cites
4,176
Papers by year
Food production accounts for roughly a third of global greenhouse-gas emissions and most of humanity's land and water footprint, and the system has to grow even as it decarbonizes. We track the emissions embodied in international food trade, evaluate how agricultural intensification interacts with land-use change, and study the climate and air-pollution consequences of choices ranging from livestock production to fertilizer management. Our goal is to identify the levers that reduce food-system emissions without increasing pressure on land, water, or food security elsewhere.
FEATURED · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2026 · FOOD · ENERGY · MITIGATION
Shi Chen, Xi Lu, Jiming Hao, Edgar Virgüez, Ken Caldeira, Steven J. Davis
Rising land costs in China make fixed-tilt solar systems cheaper than tracking systems, despite tracking's higher efficiency.
Nature Geoscience · 2025 · FOOD · MITIGATION
Yiqi Luo, Ning Wei, Xingjie Lu, Yu Zhou, Feng Tao, Quan Quan, Cuijuan Liao, Lifen Jiang, Jianyang Xia, Yuanyuan Huang, Shuli Niu, Xiangtao Xu, Ying Sun, Ning Zeng, Charles Koven, Liqing Peng, Steven J. Davis, Pete Smith, Fengqi You, Yu Jiang, Lailiang Cheng, Benjamin Houlton
Environmental Research: Food Systems · 2025 · WATER · FOOD · IMPACTS
Eva Kinnebrew, Lindsey L. Sloat, Yue Qin, Steven J. Davis, John T. Abatzoglou, Stefan Siebert, Nathaniel D. Mueller
One Earth · 2025 · FOOD · IMPACTS · MITIGATION
Shouxiu Li, Yang Gao, Junxi Zhang, Chaopeng Hong, Shaoqing Zhang, Deliang Chen, Oliver Wild, Zhaozhong Feng, Yansen Xu, Xiuwen Guo, Wenbin Kou, Feifan Yan, Mingchen Ma, Xiaohong Yao, Huiwang Gao, Steven J. Davis
FEATURED · Nature Sustainability · 2023 · FOOD · MITIGATION
Steven J. Davis, Kathleen Alexander, Juan Moreno-Cruz, Chaopeng Hong, Matthew Shaner, Ken Caldeira, Ian McKay
Synthesizing dietary fats chemically could cut greenhouse gas emissions by over half compared to conventional palm oil production.
Nature Food · 2023 · FOOD · MITIGATION
Margaret Hegwood, Matthew G. Burgess, Erin M. Costigliolo, Pete Smith, Bojana Bajželj, Harry Saunders, Steven J. Davis
Communications Earth & Environment · 2023 · FOOD · MITIGATION
Isabella B. Arzeno-Soltero, Benjamin T. Saenz, Christina A. Frieder, Matthew C. Long, Julianne DeAngelo, Steven J. Davis, Kristen A. Davis
FEATURED · Nature Plants · 2022 · CLIMATE · FOOD · ENERGY · MITIGATION
Julianne DeAngelo, Benjamin T. Saenz, Isabella B. Arzeno-Soltero, Christina A. Frieder, Matthew C. Long, Joseph Hamman, Kristen A. Davis, Steven J. Davis
Seaweed farming for climate mitigation costs $480–beyond profitable levels—except when producing valuable products instead of sinking biomass.
Nature Climate Change · 2022 · WATER · FOOD · IMPACTS
Yue Qin, Chaopeng Hong, Hongyan Zhao, Stefan Siebert, John T. Abatzoglou, Laurie S. Huning, Lindsey L. Sloat, Sohyun Park, Shiyu Li, Darla K. Munroe, Tong Zhu, Steven J. Davis, Nathaniel D. Mueller
Science · 2022 · FOOD · MITIGATION
Chaopeng Hong, Hongyan Zhao, Yue Qin, Jennifer A. Burney, Julia Pongratz, Kerstin Hartung, Yu Liu, Frances C. Moore, Robert B. Jackson, Qiang Zhang, Steven J. Davis
Earth System Science Data · 2022 · FOOD · MITIGATION
Zhu Deng, Philippe Ciais, Zitely A. Tzompa-Sosa, Marielle Saunois, Chunjing Qiu, Chang Tan, Taochun Sun, Piyu Ke, Yanan Cui, Katsumasa Tanaka, Xin Lin, Rona L. Thompson, Hanqin Tian, Yuanzhi Yao, Yuanyuan Huang, Ronny Lauerwald, Atul K. Jain, Xiaoming Xu, Ana Bastos, Stephen Sitch, Paul I. Palmer, Thomas Lauvaux, Alexandre d'Aspremont, Clément Giron, Antoine Benoit, Benjamin Poulter, Jinfeng Chang, Ana M. R. Petrescu, Steven J. Davis, Zhu Liu, Giacomo Grassi, Clément Albergel, Francesco N. Tubiello, Lucia Perugini, Wouter Peters, Frédéric Chevallier
Environmental Research Letters · 2021 · ENERGY · FOOD · MITIGATION
William F. Lamb, Thomas Wiedmann, Julia Pongratz, Robbie Andrew, Monica Crippa, Jos G. J. Olivier, Dominik Wiedenhofer, Giulio Mattioli, Jo House, Shonali Pachauri, Maria Figueroa, Yamina Saheb, Raphael Slade, Klaus Hubacek, Laixiang Sun, Suzana K. Ribeiro, Smail Khennas, Stephane D. L. R. D. Can, Lazarus Chapungu, Steven J. Davis, Igor Bashmakov, Hancheng Dai, Shobhakar Dhakal, Xianchun Tan, Yong Geng, Baihe Gu, Jan Minx
Environmental Research Letters · 2021 · WATER · FOOD · IMPACTS
Jesus Arellano-Gonzalez, Amir AghaKouchak, Morgan C. Levy, Yue Qin, Jennifer A. Burney, Steven J. Davis, Frances C. Moore
Nature · 2021 · FOOD · MITIGATION
Chaopeng Hong, Jennifer A. Burney, Julia Pongratz, Julia E. M. S. Nabel, Nathaniel D. Mueller, Robert B. Jackson, Steven J. Davis
Nature Reviews Earth & Environment · 2020 · ENERGY · FOOD · MITIGATION
Noah S. Diffenbaugh, Christopher B. Field, Eric A. Appel, Ines L. Azevedo, Dennis D. Baldocchi, Marshall Burke, Jennifer A. Burney, Philippe Ciais, Steven J. Davis, Arlene M. Fiore, Sarah M. Fletcher, Thomas W. Hertel, Daniel E. Horton, Solomon M. Hsiang, Robert B. Jackson, Xiaomeng Jin, Margaret Levi, David B. Lobell, Galen A. McKinley, Frances C. Moore, Anastasia Montgomery, Kari C. Nadeau, Diane E. Pataki, James T. Randerson, Markus Reichstein, Jordan L. Schnell, Sonia I. Seneviratne, Deepti Singh, Allison L. Steiner, Gabrielle Wong-Parodi
Nature Climate Change · 2020 · WATER · FOOD · IMPACTS
Yue Qin, John T. Abatzoglou, Stefan Siebert, Laurie S. Huning, Amir AghaKouchak, Justin S. Mankin, Chaopeng Hong, Dan Tong, Steven J. Davis, Nathaniel D. Mueller
Sustainable Cities and Society · 2020 · WATER · FOOD · ENERGY · IMPACTS · MITIGATION
Mojtaba Sadegh, Amir AghaKouchak, Iman Mallakpour, Laurie S. Huning, Omid Mazdiyasni, Mohsen Niknejad, Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, Frances C. Moore, Jack Brouwer, Arvin Farid, Mohammad Reza Alizadeh, Alexandre Martinez, Nathaniel D. Mueller, Steven J. Davis
Nature Food · 2020 · FOOD · IMPACTS
Chaopeng Hong, Nathaniel D. Mueller, Jennifer A. Burney, Amir A. Y. Zhang, Frances C. Moore, Yue Qin, Dan Tong, Steven J. Davis
Nature Communications · 2020 · FOOD · IMPACTS
Lindsey L. Sloat, Steven J. Davis, James S. Gerber, Frances C. Moore, Deepak K. Ray, Paul C. West, Nathaniel D. Mueller
Nature Communications · 2019 · FOOD · MITIGATION
Xiaoping Liu, Fengsong Pei, Youyue Wen, Xia Li, Changjiang W. S. Wang, Yiling Cai, Jianguo Wu, Jun Chen, Klaus H. K. Feng, Junguo Liu, Steven J. Davis, Wenping Yuan, Le Yu, Zhu Liu
Nature Sustainability · 2019 · WATER · FOOD · ENERGY · IMPACTS
Yue Qin, Nathaniel D. Mueller, Stefan Siebert, Robert B. Jackson, Amir AghaKouchak, Julie B. Zimmerman, Dan Tong, Chaopeng Hong, Steven J. Davis
Nature Plants · 2018 · FOOD · IMPACTS
Wei Xie, Wei Xiong, Jie Pan, Tariq Ali, Qi Cui, Dabo Guan, Jing Meng, Nathaniel D. Mueller, Erda Lin, Steven J. Davis
In the news: Scientific American·Associated Press
Journal of Cleaner Production · 2017 · FOOD · MITIGATION
Dario Caro, Steven J. Davis, Ermias Kebreab, Frank Mitloehner
Geophyscial Research Letters · 2017 · FOOD · IMPACTS
Shahrbanou Madadgar, Amir AghaKouchak, Alireza Farahmand, Steven J. Davis
· 2017 · FOOD · MITIGATION
Dario Caro, Steven J. Davis, Simone Bastianoni, Ken Caldeira
Nature Climate Change · 2015 · ENERGY · WATER · FOOD · MITIGATION
Pete Smith, Steven J. Davis, Felix Creutzig, Sabine Fuss, Jan Minx, Etsushi Kato, Robert B. Jackson, Annette Cowie, Elmar Krieger, Detlef P. V. Wuhren, Joeri Rogelj, Philippe Ciais, Jennifer Milne, Josep G. Canadell, David McCollum, Glen Peters, Robbie Andrew, Volker Krey, Gyami Shrestha, Pierre Friedlingstein, Thomas Gasser, Arnulf Grübler, Wolfgang K. Heidug, Matthias Jonas, Chris D. Jones, Florian Kraxler, Emma Littleton, Jason Lowe, José R. Moreira, Nebojsa Nakicenovic, Michael Obersteiner, Anand Patwardhan, Mathis Rogner, Ed Rubin, Ayyoob Sharifi, Asbjørn Torvanger, Yoshiki Yamagata, Jae Edmonds, Cho Yongsung
Ecological Restoration · 2015 · FOOD · IMPACTS
Sarah Kimball, Megan Lulow, Quinn Sorenson, Kathleen Balazs, Yi-Chin Fang, Steven J. Davis, Michael O'Connell, Travis E. Huxman
Global Biogeochemical Cycles · 2015 · FOOD · MITIGATION
Eberhard Hansis, Steven J. Davis, Julia Pongratz
Science · 2015 · ENERGY · FOOD · WATER · MITIGATION
Jianguo Liu, Harold Mooney, Vanessa Hull, Steven J. Davis, Joanne Gaskell, Thomas Hertel, Jane Lubchenco, Karen C. Seto, Peter Gleick, Claire Kremen, Shuxin Li
Environmental Research Letters · 2014 · FOOD · MITIGATION
Dario Caro, Anna LoPresti, Steven J. Davis, Simone Bastianoni, Ken Caldeira
Climatic change · 2014 · FOOD · MITIGATION
Dario Caro, Steven J. Davis, Simone Bastianoni, Ken Caldeira
In the news: Washington Post·Los Angeles Times
Carbon Management · 2014 · FOOD · MITIGATION
Steven J. Davis, Jennifer A. Burney, Julia Pongratz, Ken Caldeira
Proceedings of the national Academy of Sciences · 2010 · FOOD · CLIMATE · MITIGATION
Jennifer A. Burney, Steven J. Davis, David B. Lobell
In the news: TIME Magazine “Industrial Farming Slows Climate Change?” Bry