All life on Earth contributes to the greenhouse gases causing climate change both through the food living creatures including humans consume, and the manner in which that food is produced.

Direct  greenhouse gas emissions are also generated from the way biological waste products are recycled. The contributions of living things to the carbon balance and atmospheric gases can be both negative and positive, with natural systems continually cycling atmospheric gases and nutrients through plants, soils and animals.

Both managed and unmanaged human interactions with these cycles impact the climate through emissions, water cycles, soil nutrients, biodiversity above and below ground and through plant, animal and human interactions.