All living organisms cause some sort of an impact on the earth simply by being alive. Although it is impossible to live a life that causes no sort of harm to your surroundings, the environmental impact of human beings is remarkably high. We have created a society of overconsumption and overproduction and for this reason, our planet is in serious jeopardy. One of our biggest issues is the amount of plastic that we use as a society and, in turn, how much of it is afloat at sea. Furthermore, our need to consume farmed meats on a daily basis is quickly depleting our ozone layer. Lastly, our throw-away attitude towards the material objects that we buy is very quickly filling our landfills. These three topics play a key part in the well-being of
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According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, demand for food, fuel, and fibre will increase by 70% by the year 2050. With an ever growing population a large amount of human beings share a hunger for one common thing- meat. According to statista.com there are approximately 979.64 million head of cattle worldwide! Uruguay, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil and Australia have larger population of cattle than they do of humans. This massive population of livestock is causing serious environmental risks that are being too easily overlooked. Unsurprisingly, this incredible number of animals seems to take up incredible amounts of space. Carbon Dioxide emissions from livestock is said to account for 13.5and% of the greenhouse gases worldwide. 26 percent of land worldwide is used for grazing livsestock and 33 percent of land is used to grow feed for these animals. According to Livestock and Climate change… What If The Key Actors in Climate Change are Cows, Pigs and Chickens? By Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang “...Although methane warms the atmosphere much more strongly than does CO2, its half-life in the atmosphere is only about 8 years, versus at least 100 years for CO2. As a result, a significant reduction in livestock raised worldwide would reduce GHGs relatively quickly compared with measures involving renewable energy and energy efficiency”. Reducing the amount of animal sourced foods that we consume as a society could make a shift in the direction that earth is headed in. Not only would it create an immense amount of space that could be reforested or used for other purposes, but it could slow the rate at which our earth is very rapidly warming. Skip the steak next time you go grocery shopping and make a choice that will positively impact us
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, demand for food, fuel, and fibre will increase by 70% by the year 2050. With an ever growing population a large amount of human beings share a hunger for one common thing- meat. According to statista.com there are approximately 979.64 million head of cattle worldwide! Uruguay, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil and Australia have larger population of cattle than they do of humans. This massive population of livestock is causing serious environmental risks that are being too easily overlooked. Unsurprisingly, this incredible number of animals seems to take up incredible amounts of space. Carbon Dioxide emissions from livestock is said to account for 13.5and% of the greenhouse gases worldwide. 26 percent of land worldwide is used for grazing livsestock and 33 percent of land is used to grow feed for these animals. According to Livestock and Climate change… What If The Key Actors in Climate Change are Cows, Pigs and Chickens? By Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang “...Although methane warms the atmosphere much more strongly than does CO2, its half-life in the atmosphere is only about 8 years, versus at least 100 years for CO2. As a result, a significant reduction in livestock raised worldwide would reduce GHGs relatively quickly compared with measures involving renewable energy and energy efficiency”. Reducing the amount of animal sourced foods that we consume as a society could make a shift in the direction that earth is headed in. Not only would it create an immense amount of space that could be reforested or used for other purposes, but it could slow the rate at which our earth is very rapidly warming. Skip the steak next time you go grocery shopping and make a choice that will positively impact us