Animal Agriculture And Its Impact On Climate Change

Climate change undoubtedly has a monumental effect on countries across the globe, It is becoming increasingly clear that it is the most important challenge facing international relations today. Agriculture and more specifically animal agriculture is one of the biggest contributors to human made climate change. This is important for international relations because animal agriculture effects trade, global food security and the global economy. With the population growing at a rapid pace the demand on animal agricuture is also rapidly increasing. This essay will discuss the consequences of the globes meat consumption and the challenge it poses to international relations. It will then go on to discuss the way the international community should address global food security while reducing the animal agriculture industries effect on the environment.

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

Relevance: We all share the same planet, therefore, I believe it is vital to know the ways animal agriculture shapes our environment.

One of the biggest problems in society due to the issue of climate change is the reduction and loss of crops and livestock, which can be

Environmental agencies focus on fossil fuels as the big bad baddy of greenhouse gas emissions leading to global warming, suggesting alternative energy, carpooling, hybrid cars, and biking, but animal agriculture accounts for more carbon dioxide per year than all transportation methods combined.

The burning of fossil fuels for energy and agriculture are two of the biggest contributors to global warming, along with deforestation. Ruminant animals like cattle produce methane, which is a greenhouse gas about 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The livestock sector is responsible for about 37% of human-caused methane emissions, and about 65% of human nitrous oxide emissions.Also, nearly a third of biodiversity loss to date has been linked to animal agriculture. Further amplifying water and air pollution, global livestock produce seven to nine times more sewage than humans, most of which is left untreated.

“Methane has been identified as a significant contributor to global warming. It is second to carbon dioxide in contribution to global warming and is said to be 15-20% of all greenhouse gas emissions.” (Yusuf, Noor, Abba, A. Hassan, & Din., 2012, p. 1). The majority of the greenhouse gases emitted in the agricultural sector came from livestock (Yusuf et al., 2012, p. 2). Studies have shown that “cows produce more greenhouse gases than the entire

Chances are, you’ve consumed meat, dairy, or eggs at some point in you life, but have you ever stopped to think about the effects the animal agriculture industry has on our planet? The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has gathered that from a local to global scale, the livestock sector emerges every year as one of the top 2-3 most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems. From air, to climate change, to land & soil, to biodiversity, the animal agriculture industry has an impact on virtually all aspects of the environment. Evidence has shown that the production of livestock releases substances that contribute to climate change and air pollution at nearly every step of the process. When compared

Sustainability is an issue the whole world is facing but in particular it is become a big problem in the livestock industry. Greenhouse gases are the cause and in order to preserve the planet for future generation’s changes must be made. Methane is the greenhouse gas which produced by livestock. Methane is approximately 30 times worse for the environment than carbon dioxide as it is a heat trapping gas. If sustainability needs the achieved in the Livestock industry than the issue of methane must be taken care of sooner rather than later.

Most environmental issues today come from actions that are so-called “necessary” with the way the world operates in the 21st century. Examples of such activities and their consequences is driving a car and the release of nitrous oxides into the air, or heating and cooling homes and businesses which requires the use of fossil fuels. However, animal agriculture, the industrialized production of meat and animal related products, is an industry that is not necessary to the functionality of society today. People’s desire to consume animal products is more often than not driven by taste buds, not survival. Furthermore, most people are not aware of the wide scale degradation animal agriculture causes both the planet and peoples’ health. Although animal agriculture impacts the environment in many forms, the negative impacts on the world’s limited water resource is too severe for such an industry to be able to continue to operate how it does today.

Everyone has heard of the conservation movement in order to save our planet from global warming by saving water and burning less fossil fuels but what about the raising of livestock? “Nitrous oxide that is produced by animal agriculture has a global warming potential 296 times greater than CO2 emissions per pound.” Due to the fear of being attacked by major meat and dairy corporations, many environmental organizations do not talk about animal agriculture being the leading cause of environmental destruction even though their entire mission is to help protect our planet. Raising animals for food is the true agent to global warming, and therefore, there needs to be an end to the overproduction and consumption of animal products for its immense

Many people who fancy themselves to be environmentalists are fond of demonizing the automobile industry, calling it the number one agent of global pollution. (Just look at some of the literature emanating from such "mainstream" organizations as Environment California and the Sierra Club.) However, when it comes to environmental destruction, animal agriculture is the elephant in the room that no one wants to acknowledge, confront, or talk about. Animal-based agriculture is the number one cause of deforestation, air pollution, and water pollution. Therefore, those people who still incorporate meat, eggs, or dairy products in their diet cannot claim to be environmentalists.

United Nations Global Environmental Alert Service claims, “Livestock emissions makeup nearly 80 percent of emissions from agriculture and agricultural emissions make up an estimated 10 to 35 percent of total global emissions.” Although livestock produce a lot of emissions, their impact on the soil and people outweigh the negative effects of the emissions.

Many scientists and researchers have become worried about the health of our Earth. With increasing climate temperatures that can be noticed world-wide, scientists have been searching for a cause. It is widely believed that greenhouse gases are responsible.These gases: water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane, to name few, become trapped in the atmosphere and work to absorb and emit radiation, resulting in a rise in temperature. The most suspected causes: agriculture and livestock. It has been said that agriculture is the biggest contributing factor of methane emissions within the United States. Many people believe that the reduction of/ riddance of meat from the population's diet will supply the change needed to save the Earth, however, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Humans should continue to produce animal products, but become more mindful of the changes that are continually made to the Earth and the impact it has on other species.

Animal agriculture is the growing and raising of animals in preparation for slaughter and consumption by humans, or other animals. When raising meat animals it takes 12 times as much land, 13 times more fossil fuel, and 15 times more water than it takes to grow vegetables, fruit, or grains. It also produces more greenhouse gas than all modes of transportation combined (citation). The increase of greenhouse gases increase the effects of the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is the idea that is that when more gas is released the sun’s warmth is trapped closer to the earth. The greenhouse effect is one of the contributors to global warming. Another way raising cattle affects the environment is in many cases land becomes deforested to create more land for cattle to graze. Even though meat is important for a healthy diet since it