America's Largest 'Crop': the Lawn

A NASA study finds that no irrigated vegetation covers more surface in the United States than the collection of lawns that are so important to the American identity.

1 minute read

August 24, 2015, 9:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell

Stefan Fussan / Flickr

"Americans’ lawns now cover an area three times larger than any irrigated crop in the U.S.," according to a post by Rob Wile.

"According to a new study [pdf] from NASA scientists in collaboration with researchers in the Mountain West, there is now an estimated total of 163,812 square kilometers, or more than 63,000 square miles, of lawn in America — about the size of Texas."

The study focused on the environmental of the country's lawns, finding good news and bad news. For good news, lawns remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. For bad news, many lawns uses up to 900 liters of water a day.

FULL STORY: The American lawn is now the largest single ‘crop’ in the U.S.

Friday, August 14, 2015 in Fusion

Environment United States Lawns Irrigation Carbon Sinks

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