Human 's Demands On The Earth Are Causing Ecological Crisis

Introduction (Attention Step): What do you think is the greatest cause of emission pollution? What do you believe is harming our planet? Well if you guessed that fossil fuel emissions are the biggest emission polluters, then you are completely wrong (attention getter). Animal Agriculture is actually the number one Greenhouse Gas emitter in the planet. Yes, cow farts are destroying the environment. It sounds crazy, but ever since the mid 60’s, agriculture associations have been spreading across the Americas and dominated the industry. The most destructive of all Ag corps are Livestock Corporation. These associations include IBP, Conagra, Perdue, Farmland National Beef, Cargill, etc … Animal Agriculture is effecting every single person in this room because we all breathe in the same air, drink the same water, and eat the same (credibility). The buildup of Animal Agriculture is a great destruction to our planet and our species because it is creating

Michael Pollan (2009) believes that the dependence on a fossil-fuel based food distribution system is toxic both to the environment and to the human body. Cows and other

We’ve all heard environmentalists explain what global warming is, why it’s dangerous, and what we can do to stop it. People protest against auto emissions and fossil fuel daily. “ But the one industry that produces more greenhouse gases than all the SUV’s, cars, ships, planes, and trucks in the world combined, has carefully avoided scrutiny” (Goveg.com). Often overlooked in environmental destruction is the meat industry. This industry has a major source of deforestation, wasted natural resources, and pollution. As consumers we expect our food to be safe, but Americans should pay more attention and fear what may affect our environment in the future.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations released, in 2006, a publication which looked over the environmental impact of livestock on the planet. The conclusions found from that report are that up to 70% of grazing land is considered degraded, livestock contributes in CO2 approximately 18% of the climate change, and livestock accounts for about 37% of methane emissions.As we continue to find out the extent of the effects of these things, we must take these things into consideration. Presently, however, the conclusions found from this report among others the impact on the environment is substantial and at unsustainable levels for the near and far future.

Raising livestock for animal products requires a lot of land, water, food, and energy. Further, waste water, manure, and the use of pesticides and fertilizers pollute the air, streams, rivers, and oceans. There are a number of different types of livestock that contribute to environmental degradation, and in different ways; however, beef and dairy cattle appear to be the worst perpetrators. To narrow the focus of this paper, I will examine beef and two types of environmental impacts: greenhouse gases and water usage. Before we can understand the impacts, it’s important to note something about consumption habits.

In a study conducted by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2003, it was estimated that there are approximately 2 billion people that live primarily on a meat-based diet while approximately 4 billion people live primarily on a plant-based diet (Pimentel, 2003). With this information we can deduce just how much of a difference in environmental effects there are between a vegetarian diet and a diet that consumes meat. For example, in this study it was found that the average amount of fossil fuel energy used for 1 kilocalorie of animal-based protein was 11 times more than that for 1 kilocalorie of grain protein. This statistic shows that the mass production of animal meat-based foods requires a much larger amount of the already limited amount of fossil fuels that are on Earth than plant-based food. By examining this fact, it is not a broad leap to assume that in reducing the worlds extravagant use of animal meat for consumption we could not only preserve the natural resources we have but also assist in reducing factors that add to climate change. Although the argument could be made that because both the vegetarian diet and a diet with meat in it use a large amount of resources there would be no difference in reducing the effects that the agriculture industry has on climate change but that is simply not true. While it is true that both diets use a large amount of resources, across the board the meat-based diet uses a much larger amount of resources. In fact, in the study conducted by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition it states, “The meat-based diet requires more energy, land, and water resources than the lactoovovegetarian [vegetarian] diet.” Although both are considered unsustainable, this study provides very valid evidence that the vegetarian diet is more sustainable than that of a meat-based

This movie documents why animal agriculture is the #1 contributor to greenhouse gases, the #1 environmental problem , the leading cause of rain forest destruction and habitat loss, creating massive amounts of untreated waste and using far more of our precious aquifers than if we all simply ate a plant-based diet.

It has also been reported that raising livestock is the single most significant addition to global warming. According to ‘Livestock’ Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options, “Livestock is responsible for 65% of all human-related emissions of nitrous oxide - a greenhouse gas with 296 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide, and which stays in the atmosphere for 150 years” (4). Global warming is, and will continue to, cause havoc on every organism's way of life. The world’s climate scientists continuously warn us of the potential dangers of global warming, which include: drought, rising of sea levels, famine, human conflict, major species extinction, increase in the appearance and intensity of tropical storms, such as hurricanes and tsunamis, and wildfires. Today, humans are experiencing the effects of climate change.

Chicken, lamb, turkey, milk, pork, eggs, fish, etc., all contribute to the environmental problems facing the planet. The fossil-fuel energy consumption to protein output for these livestock are as follows: chicken has a 4:1 ration, lamb 50:1, turkey 13:1, milk protein 14:1, pork 17:1, and eggs at a 26:1 ratio. This averages out to almost eight-times more “fossil-fuel energy than production of plant protein” (Pimentel). In addition, each animal has its own benefits and downfalls. Pigs propose a lower carbon footprint but if raised in ideal free-range environments they can pollute the soil with nitrogen (Goffman 5). Chickens pose the threat of spreading bacteria through rivers and streams and spurring algal growth which create “dead zones”,

There are four major gases that cause the greenhouse effect.  These chemicals are Chloroflourocarbons (CFC’s), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), and Methane (CH4).  “CFC’s destroy ozone molecules by the thousands, causing a smaller amount of ozone in the ozone layer.  This allows more UV rays hit the Earth’s surface, causing a slight increase of the Earth’s temperature.  The more ozone molecules destroyed, the more UV rays enter the Earth’s atmosphere, making the temperature even higher”(What Is The Greenhouse Effect).

Livestock production impacts the planet in a catastrophic way and the rate at which greenhouse emissions are increasing are completely unsustainable for every living species on this planet. A United Nations report warns that rearing cattle produces more greenhouse gases than of the entire transportation sector because transportation exhaust is responsible for only 13% of all greenhouse gas emissions whereas livestock and their byproducts account for 51% of all worldwide

“The UN along with other agencies reported that not only did livestock play a major role in global warming, it is also the leading cause of resource consumption and environmental degradation destroying the planet today.” (Andersen & Kuhn, 2014). It is important, then, to consider the effects of animal agriculture on the environment. This essay will argue that animal agriculture is harmful to the environment in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, water- and land use, and that policies in the form of subsidizing plant foods, altering the Canada Food Guide, and creating plant based nutrition coaching and support groups should be enacted to solve these problems. The first section of this paper will outline scholarly literature on the effects of animal agriculture on the environment. This paper will then discuss why a plant based diet is also suitable for optimal health. Finally, this essay will conclude with an overview of the various social policies that must be executed to solve these environmental issues.

The impacts of livestock on global climate change are important to the health of the ecosystem because it causes the average global temperature to increase. Livestock contributes to the majority of methane emitted into the atmosphere because of the feces it produces. The growing population increase is not helpful to this matter because as a result, a demand of food arises. This demand for food also includes the demand for livestock because it is appropriate for the human diet. “Meat production is to double from 229 million tonnes in [2000] to 465 million tonnes in 2050” (McMichael et al. 1259). The methane emission rate is bound to increase because it is “dependent upon the population size of the [livestock], their productivity, and [handling system]” (Jose et al. 3).

According, to NASA over the past 250 years “carbon dioxide levels have increased nearly 38 percent as of 2009”. Carbon dioxide is a natural compound found in our earth's atmosphere however to much of it can can cause warmer climate. Just one single carbon dioxide molecule can remain in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. As many scientists have stated before high quantities of carbon dioxide emissions cause global warming. Methane levels are surging in our planet’s air with major intensity and it’s not just the petroleum industry’s fault. The United States Environmental Protection Agency stated that “60% of methane emissions come from human activity [and it is] emitted from [petroleum] and agriculture”. Livestock animals are known to cause

Decidedly, one of the most profound and positive impacts people can make on the environment comes from a change in eating habits.The Standard American Diet’s (SAD) outright reliance on the breeding and consumption of animals, as it’s main food source, has created a global environmental threat. For it is through modern animal agriculture and industrial practices that human health, animal welfare, and the global environment as a whole is being directly impacted. The following report outlines the correlation between the environmental impact of a single individual, myself, and modern animal operations.