Photo courtesy: http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/wp-content/uploads/new-image.JPGMost people do not think about livestock contributing to the greenhouse gas crisis. I was surprised how much impact they had.
Livestock production has increased dramatically over the last thirty years, due to the massive demand for meats. Meat used to be known as a "treat" to have in a meal in different parts of the world, but now people eat it all the time. According to mongabay.com, two recent studies looked at the global impact of the livestock industry, one alleges that its environmental impacts in relation to greenhouse gas emissions has been overestimated, while the other takes a holistic view of the industry's environmental impact.
The first study questions livestock's share of emissions: According to Dr. Frank Mitloehner, from the University of California-Davis, meat-eating does not cause high amounts of carbon emissions. This is based on faulty data, at least in terms of comparing the importance of cutting down meat consumption to making the transition from fossil fuels to green energy.
He doesn't suggest that we cut down on meat and diary, that will only end badly for poor countries. Instead the industrialized world must focus on the way it produces and consumes energy. He advises that "the developed world should focus on increasing efficient meat production in developing countries where growing populations need more nutritious food. In developing countries, we should adopt more efficient, Western-style farming practices to make more food with less greenhouse gas production."
The second study still thinks livestock is the problem: While livestock is not the biggest cause of greenhouse gas emissions, it does put a large strain on the environment. Some examples are pollution, water-consumption, deforestation, and land-use. According to "Livestock in a Changing Landscape, a report by scientists, "livestock impact on land-use is massive. Currently, a quarter of the world's land is used for 1.7 billion livestock animals. This ongoing shifting from wild lands to pasture has impacted biodiversity and ecosystems worldwide. For example, cattle ranching in Brazil has led both directly and indirectly to deforestation in the Amazon rain forest".
Livestock production has increased dramatically over the last thirty years, due to the massive demand for meats. Meat used to be known as a "treat" to have in a meal in different parts of the world, but now people eat it all the time. According to mongabay.com, two recent studies looked at the global impact of the livestock industry, one alleges that its environmental impacts in relation to greenhouse gas emissions has been overestimated, while the other takes a holistic view of the industry's environmental impact.
The first study questions livestock's share of emissions: According to Dr. Frank Mitloehner, from the University of California-Davis, meat-eating does not cause high amounts of carbon emissions. This is based on faulty data, at least in terms of comparing the importance of cutting down meat consumption to making the transition from fossil fuels to green energy.
He doesn't suggest that we cut down on meat and diary, that will only end badly for poor countries. Instead the industrialized world must focus on the way it produces and consumes energy. He advises that "the developed world should focus on increasing efficient meat production in developing countries where growing populations need more nutritious food. In developing countries, we should adopt more efficient, Western-style farming practices to make more food with less greenhouse gas production."
The second study still thinks livestock is the problem: While livestock is not the biggest cause of greenhouse gas emissions, it does put a large strain on the environment. Some examples are pollution, water-consumption, deforestation, and land-use. According to "Livestock in a Changing Landscape, a report by scientists, "livestock impact on land-use is massive. Currently, a quarter of the world's land is used for 1.7 billion livestock animals. This ongoing shifting from wild lands to pasture has impacted biodiversity and ecosystems worldwide. For example, cattle ranching in Brazil has led both directly and indirectly to deforestation in the Amazon rain forest".
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