Haiku

New Zealand’s leading economic research institute and climate think tank, Motu, uses the Japanese poetry form of “Haiku” to summarise its research in a pithy, plain English manner.

Haiku is a traditional form of poetry consisting of three lines. The first and last lines of a Haiku have five syllables and the middle line has seven syllables.

We’ve taken a leaf out of Motu’s book and created some Haiku poetry to sum up different aspects of the NZAGRC’s scientific research.

Read a selection below and click on them to find out more about the science behind them!

Twenty three percent:

Livestock directly adds this

To current warming

Farming and climate

Bringing countries together

In the G-R-A

Cow fermentation:

Methanogens love rumen

They make CH₄

Efficient farming

Can reduce methane a bit

But more must be done

Paddock N₂O

Try Quantum Cascade Laser

It’s a game changer

Reduce GHGs

More soil carbon please

And less methane too

GHGs go up

The temperature increases

What is our future?

Carbon in soil

Stops CO₂ going up

Need ‘4 per mille’ more…

Don’t over promise

A methane inhibitor

A good thing takes time

In terms of impact

A vaccine would be awesome

But proving quite hard

If you have a haiku to share, please email us