Negative Effects Of Animal Agriculture

Anna Lappé’s book, Diet for a Hot Planet, discusses the impact that meat consumption has on the planet and our environment. It discusses how the global food system is a major contributor to climate change, producing as much as one-third of greenhouse gas emissions. She writes about how the way we farm, what we eat, and how our food gets to our tables all

Animal agriculture is one of the largest contributors to climate change; however, this fact goes unacknowledged by most people. Livestock and their byproducts produce monstrous amounts

Since the beginning of mankind, we have become dependent on animal products as a food source. As population increased, so did the production of animal agriculture and its profitability. Unfortunately, it has grown into an industry that is unsustainable for this planet and is demolishing our environment at an astonishing rate. In the academic article, ‘Cowspiracy’ Strips the Meat Industry Down to the Bone, Ford reports the shocking statistic that “even if all utilities were turned off and every fossil-fuel-guzzling system of transportation ceased immediately, environmental damage that results from greenhouse gases would be irreversible…even with humanity’s greatest efforts, the dairy and meat industries will still eventually destroy life on Earth”. As the environment is at its most crucial and devastating point, the major contribution that animal agriculture has on rainforest deforestation, pollution of our water, and global warming becomes undeniable.

There are many different practises and methods available for livestock production, and ultimately it is the choices that farmers make that determines the production’s level of sustainability. The practices of industrial large-scale operations like CAFOs result in both environmental damage as well as health concerns for humans and animals. Depletion, pollution and contamination are the biggest obstacles we face when trying to move toward a more sustainable planet. But when livestock is handled responsibly, with consideration for the environment and potential consequences, it is indeed possible to produce livestock that is beneficial for our planet. Organic and grass-based farming systems such as silvopastoral systems have been proven to increase biodiversity, reverse soil erosion and counteract water depletion. By encouraging farmers to move towards more sustainable methods like these, we can help curb today’s more urgent issues regarding our environment. While there are disagreements between researchers on how to do this, they all agree that we have to take some kind of action to save our planet. Possible ways to achieve this include not consuming meat, or buying meat from local, organic and grass-based farmers to ensure the livestock was raised in a responsible way. If more consumers demanded this type of meat,

Meat and dairy productions’ livestock is responsible for over 51% of the greenhouse gas emissions, that could be cut by over 70% if we changed our diets to vegan or vegetarian. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the animals on the farms produce over 500 million ton of manure each

Humans have impacted the world for years. One of the biggest environmental issues is Animal Agriculture. Many people do not believe this because it is a huge part in everyday life. Three things that this paper will show you is how Animal Agriculture affects deforestation, how much land is used to hold animals, and the factory farms. Many things that happen in today's environment is connected to Animal Agriculture. The top 10 things that are important to the environment that is affected is Pollution, Biodiversity, Ecological Footprint, Sustainability, Atmosphere, Ozone Layer, Habitat, Carbon Cycle, Fossil Fuels, and Carrying Capacity.

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.

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

Global warming is not seen as big problem in our culture today. In fact, around 1.6 billion people still don’t think climate change or global warming is even a thing. Animal agriculture has correlation with the highest sea level rise ever recorded in history along with, warming oceans, spiking global temperatures, declining arctic sea ice, shrinking ice sheets, ocean acidification and decreased snow cover every year. It only continues to get worse. The problem with this is that worldwide, 61% of the greenhouse gases produced on earth is from animal agriculture. The next closest being 18% due to fossil fuels (Climate Change Indicators in the United States). The answer is plain and simple, there needs to be regulations put on all meats to limit the amount produced year. Scientists believe that if people produced just enough or even a little more than we need for a meat diet, instead of producing 10 billion, producing 7.5 billion, the greenhouse gas from animal agriculture would be 26% less than it is currently. There needs to be a change in the way life is right now, because if the numbers keep increases the way they are, the earth will be like one big Chernobyl, poisoned by pure Co2. However, humanity has always found a way to survive, and this task ahead will prove to

In order to supply to the Standard American an unnatural and rapid growth of over 9 billion livestock have been reproduced to meet the population’s growing demand for supply. The increasing consumption of animals, as American’s main food source, continues to environmentally harm their own natural system. Yet, in a very glutinous way , the livestock population,in the U.S., has surpassed it’s human population by an estimated 5 times. Today, the U.S. livestock population has come to consume over seven times as much grain than the

I was sitting through a lecture when my professor brought up the fact many (if not most) of the environmental issues the world faces is because of animal agriculture.

Have you ever thought about what will happen if the beef production goes downhill and we are left with no beef to get proper protein? Many people are unaware of the occurrences happening to earth due to climate change. There are tons of issues that go unseen throughout the day on Earth that could be stopped or decreased. Some of these issues involve pollution, littering, negativity, and more. Not everyone lives in an area of the world that they can see the agricultural side every day. The people that can see the agricultural side every day, know that there are many ways that climate change can have an impact on livestock, especially cattle. There are other objects that can be impacted through climate change, cattle are just one of them. Climate

Better feeding practices, animal husbandry, health management, manure management practices are some of the intervention needed to improve the sustainability of livestock. To bring best practices and technologies in areas in which are needed a mix of supporting policies, incentives, research and on-the-ground extension work is needed.

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

Animal agriculture is the breeding of animals for the production of animal products for human consumption and for recreational purposes. As a result of this industry it has been causing climate change, pollution, and species extinction- leaving environmentalist and the human population in outrage. In recent films such as Cowspiracy discusses these detrimental effects that are currently a result of the animal agriculture industry. Animal agriculture is the leading cause of climate change, pollution, and extinction; however veganism is a solution to this environmental issue.