Factory Farms Pollution

Aside from air pollution, animal agriculture is also the main cause of deforestation and land degradation on the planet, and is even estimated to be responsible for over 80% of all deforestation worldwide. Animal agriculture is also the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction. Due to the production of livestock, 1/3 of the planet has been desertified, and as the demand for animal agriculture increases, the supply will grow, causing more forests to be

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

While animal cruelty is the largest issue that arises from factory farming, there are also many other problems that stem from this type of production such as environmental impacts. With this type of food production, “modern animal agriculture puts an incredible strain on natural resources like land, water, and fossil fuel” (Factory Farming). This is causing non-reversible environmental damage such as contaminating water supplies and producing mass amounts of exhaust due to production. These practices are going unnoticed by both the government and the companies responsible. Laws and regulations for the environment are not doing their job and need to be changed in order to save the resources that future generations have a right to experience. The industry as a whole stand idly by as they destroy the environment by the practices they perform. This puts a major strain on the fight against environmental degradation by the lack of regard for conserving what is not the industries to ruin.

It won’t come as a surprise to anyone that Americans like their meat. In fact, America produced 93 billion pounds of meat and poultry in 2012, which included some 32 million cattle. As many of us already know, agriculture has a significant impact on our environment in a variety of ways. In order to successfully rear livestock, slaughterhouses require large quantities of water, and emit plenty of greenhouse gases – methane and CO2 specially – during production.

Industrialized farming is a constant in today's world. Every hour of every day, these farms are cranking out thousands of pounds of meat, eggs, dairy, etc. Many claim it is quick and efficient. While factory farming does get the job done, per se, the job is not done without causing devastation. Environmentally, these farms have caused severe amounts of damage. They are responsible for thirty seven percent of the world's methane emissions, having a huge impact on climate change. Methane emissions are at least twenty times more hazardous to the climate than carbon dioxide emissions (Good). Farmers that manage and own industrial farms, and their customers, face dangers as well. Many farmers develop a resistance to antibiotics after being

In the United States, most of the meat and dairy products consumers purchase at the grocery store come from facilities called factory farms. Factory farming is a fast and cheap method of mass producing meat, cheese, milk, eggs, and several other variations of animal products. Although cost effective, factory farming is criticized because of the subpar conditions the animals are subjected to, and the apparent environmental harm they inflict due to the immense amount of waste these factories produce. In an article titled “Using Emerging Pollution Tracking Methods to Address the Downstream Impacts of Factory Farm Animal Welfare Abuse”, the authors Tarah Heinzen and Abel Russ discuss the recurrent mistreatment of livestock on factory farms, the

The problems arising from factory farms are only getting bigger and more disastrous to the environment. These farms raise hundreds or thousands of animals in close confinement; otherwise know as concentrated animal feeding operations or CAFOs. “Large CAFOs are controlled under federal and state pollution regulations because they produce massive quantities of animal waste that can pose environmental and heath hazards if mishandled” (Weeks, 3). So why would farmers be farming this way it is so dangerous? The answer is simple; these farms can produce large quantities of food cheaply. If a farm can produce more hogs or calves, its profit is larger. In order for farmers to stay on their land, they are forced into poorly paid off-farm employment (Food). “Livestock farmers are told that they must adopt the new industrial technologies that make CAFO’s feasible, if they expect to have a future in farming” (Kallen, 64). The byproducts of such farms are producing harmful odors. The runoff from these farms “pollutes streams and groundwater with antibiotics, insecticides, pathogens and emits poisonous gases that are hazardous and create offensive odors” (Weeks, 2). The question now becomes, is factory farming the only way out? Is an industrial approach to agriculture needed to feed the poor and hungry of the world? The answer

Factory farming reduced the amount of land needed for meat production, however, these farms are a serious water pollutant. The waste of these animals ends up in the surrounding water and poses the constant threat of drinking water contamination. Runoff from factory farms and livestock grazing are one of the leading causes of pollution in rivers and lakes. The EPA notes that “bacteria and viruses can be carried by the runoff and that groundwater can be contaminated.” The huge quantities of animal waste runoff produced by these operations leech into the water supply and affect the natural aquatic life cycle. Livestock manure is rich in nitrogen, phosphorous, and other fertilizers. These chemicals eventually work their way into our stream, rivers

Factory farming is the application of industry models and production to farms and agriculture. It stresses efficiency and maximum output, but has some terrible consequences. Nearly 65 billion animals worldwide, including cows, chickens and pigs, are crammed into CAFOs. Most farmers have no where to put waste so they put it in lagoons. Collecting animal waste in the massive lagoons is bad because the waste breaks down and forms ammonia gas. This then breeds bacteria, which combines with other pollutants in the air to form nitric acid. The nitric acid builds up in the atmosphere and then returns to the surface of the earth as acid rain, harming soil, forest habitats, and water ecosystems. This causes vast amounts of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. Animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of all human-Introduced greenhouse gas emissions and because we burn fossil fuels there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than there has been for the past 600,000 years. Methane comes from the animals and it is stronger than CO2. This bad because carbon cycle filter out only so much of it at a time and if there is to much it can damage the ozone layer. There is more to animal agriculture than just making product for people around the

Cowspircay delves into the interesting but alarming trend in the rise of carbon emissions and negative environmental effects of the food production industry, specifically cattle. Some staggering figures offer are alarming, including that animal agriculture produces 65% of the worlds nitrous oxide, which 296x greater in damage to our environment then co2. The massive increase in emissions from the cattle industry is scary, mostly because of its lack of focus from environmental groups. Some other alarming facts brought to lights, and I feel are the more important factors, farming uses 30% of the worlds water and 45% of the earths land. These numbers are startling and scary in a world that is massively growing but running out of water and places

The purpose of the article is inform the readers of the various aspects of the industrial agriculture system and how it depletes natural resources, such as water, soil, and fossil fuels at unsustainable rates. The article outlines the present, concerning public health and environmental issues with food production methods and advises different techniques to make the systems more viable. It also discusses the use of chemicals, such as antibiotic medicine and pesticides, and their effect on humans and the environment. The industrial agriculture system consumes fossil fuel, water, and topsoil at unsustainable rates. It contributes to numerous forms of environmental degradation, including air and water pollution, soil depletion, diminishing biodiversity, and fish die-offs. Meat production contributes disproportionately to these problems, in part because feeding grain to livestock to produce involves a large energy loss. It makes animal agriculture more resource intensive than other forms of food production.

For this reason, agriculture, is now considered to be the top source of pollution in the U.S. Responsible for over 70 percent of polluted waterways manure has quietly attacked all aquatic and human life. By altering the chemical properties of P and N in fresh water the newly unbalanced phytoplankton reproduced has vastly contributed to the ever growing death rate of fish today. Additionally, by allowing the continuation in the contamination of our waters, through animal waste, a large threat is making it’s way into America’s food supply through not only the water being used by the animal being consumed, but the quality of our drinking water

One of their arguments was that animal agriculture is responsible for things that impact the environment through air pollution. They mentioned that animal agriculture is responsible for more than 18 percent of greenhouse has emissions, thats more than the combines exhaust from all transportation. To also back up their argument they mentioned that livestock and their byproducts accounts for at least 32,000 millions tons of carbon dioxide per year, or 51 percent of all worldwide greenhouse gas remission. All of the carbon dioxide also adds to the air pollution. Another argument they presented was that animal agriculture takes up a lot of our water. To help their argument they states that fracking water use ranges from 70-140 billion gallons annually and animal agriculture water consumption ranges from 34-76 trillion gallons annually. A lot of this water is used to grow feed crop. Growing feed crops for livestock consumes 56 percent of water in the US. These are just some of the facts “Cowspiracy” had mentioned in their video to help us better understand why we should choose a plant-based diet instead of a animal-based

Even after listening to the facts about animal agriculture it is difficult for me to imagine that factory farming represents 99% of the animal products Americans consume especially after growing up in eastern Iowa and western Illinois. Consuming animals is a difficult topic because, Americans and I would rather discuss how we can change industry, politics, and our energy dependence rather than a personal issue such as the food we consume to protect the environment. Livestock farming is regrettably affecting the environment and the planet through methane produced, waste contamination, land utilization, and human health. Americans have ideals for farming from the American cowboy to the family farms, who continue to raise animals, might have a difficult time accepting the negative outcomes of raising

Animal agriculture is full of multiple components that overall affect the Earth’s health including the health of the population that makes up the Earth. The practice of breeding livestock has become readily responsible for the changes in the Earth regarding climate and pollution. The Animal Agriculture Alliance has promoted the interest for the largest corporation and trade association for livestock, antibiotics, and genetically modified organisms (Modern Animal Agriculture Methods Are Efficient, Highly Productive, and Sustainable). In other words, this corporation is profiting from this field while the Earth is going through exposure of dangerous weather conditions, predators, and disease; all resulting in carbon emissions. Furthermore, Canada’s