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What are the effects of climate change essay
Essay on effect of climate change in livestock
What are the effects of climate change essay
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The production of beef is closely linked to climate change. To begin with, cows produce a lot of methane through enteric fermentation. Secondly, carbon dioxide is released during the transportation of beef. Thirdly, to sustain the cattle, trees have to be cut down which also release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Finally, the increased global demand for fast food and beef consumption further compounds the above factors.
A beef cow produces about 220 kilograms of methane per year through the process of enteric fermentation. One kilogram of methane is equal to 23 kilograms of carbon dioxide. Hence, a single beef cow produces a little bit more than 5,000 carbon dioxide equivalent kilograms of methane per year. As the demand for beef increases, people need to raise more cattle and more cattle means more greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions are a large contributor to climate change.
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For example, about 168 grams of carbon dioxide is released for the transportation to make one cheeseburger. To put this to scale, an average American eats about 150 burgers per year. That is about 25,200 grams (or 25.2 kilograms) of carbon dioxide for one burger per citizen per year. This is equivalent to 7,560,000,000,000 grams (or 7,560,000,000 kilograms) of carbon dioxide for the transportation of all US burgers per year and this does not even factor in the beef consumed in any other forms such as steaks!
In addition, to sustain the cattle, approximately 5.2 square meters of rainforest is being cut. This is also a contributing factor to climate change as when trees are cut down they can no longer absorb any more carbon dioxide. Also the carbon stored in the trees is released into the
The introduction of cattle ranching industries in the 1960s set the forefront for current Brazilian rainforest deforestation figures. During this time, development subsidy programs encouraged Brazilians to clear rainforest for pastureland and invest in new cattle ranches (Pancheco). Over the last 40 years, Brazil has destroyed 700,00 square kilometers of rainforest, an area about the size of Texas (BBC) (Enchanted Lear...
This rainforest is also a great ‘carbon sink’. It has many photosynthesis plants and this allows the control of carbon dioxide (CO2). The plants take in the CO2 from the atmosphere and return oxygen (O2). b) Logging has impacted this ecosystem. There are trees that are hundreds of years old and their timber is being pushed to be sold for high prices.
This statement is a myth and can be backed up by Meat Mythcrushers. According to the video, Myth: Going Meatless One Day a Week Can Have a Significant Environmental Impact, “reducing meat consumption one day per week as recommended by the Meatless Monday campaign has a negligible impact on greenhouse gas emissions.” This means that of the 3.4 percent of the gas emissions that are from animal agriculture, beef only contribute 1.4 percent. Even if the whole world were to reduce their beef consumption for one week, their carbon footprint would be just a meager .2 percent (2013). This misconception comes from people believing that livestock production is causing large emissions of greenhouse gas emissions when it is more so the transportation and energy production causing the problem. Meat is both economically and nutritionally efficient. Today, livestock farms require less land, water and energy than was required in the past
thirds of the 815 billion tons of carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere in 1987.
The gas responsible for the most warming is carbon dioxide, also called CO2. Other contributors include methane released from landfills and agriculture (especially from the digestive systems of grazing animals), nitrous oxide from fertilizers, gases used for refrigeration and industrial processes, and the loss of forests that would otherwise store CO2 ( Figure 3 ). Some impacts due to global warming are ice is me...
Even though there is a variety of nutritious food all over the world, while the food you have during the winter is less vitamin deficient the food comes at a great ecological cost. With every action comes a consequence; hence, humans do not take the time to acknowledge what they eat and how it affects our environment. Transporting a variety of foods from all over the world hurts our plant due to the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, which causes more pollution (Source D). This transportation issue can be resolved by simply purchasing locally grown food because the carbon dioxide being released to the atmosphere causes drastic climate change. McWilliams asserts, “But New Zealand lamb is raised on pastures with a small carbon footprint, whereas most English lamb is produced under intensive factory-like conditions with a big carbon footprint.”(Source C). Not only is carbon a consequence of transportation but also of the factory conditions; hence, the amount of carbon released i...
A United Nations report states that land used for animal agriculture, both for grazing and production of crops fed to livestock, takes up an astounding 30% of land on Earth. ("Meat Production Wastes Natural Resources") To meet the industry’s demands, over 260 million acres of forest in the U.S. have been cleared to grow grain fed to farm animals. ("Meat Production Wastes Natural Resources") With that in mind, the meat industry also dumps disease-causing pathogens through animal waste that pollutes water and forces the need for waste lagoons to be constructed, which are susceptible to leaking and flooding. ("Facts about Pollution from Livestock Farms”) Scientists say that about 14% of the world’s greenhouse gases are released by said agriculture industries, which is a growing concern for climate change and global warming. (Silverman) The meat industry uses one-third of all the fossil fuels consumed in the United States. (Moore) There is no question that farming animals has a negative effect on the environment and steps should be taken to mitigate air and water pollution risks and future deforestation. If animal agriculture was phased out, land used for animal grazing could be returned to forest land and some of it converted into fields for cultivating crops for humans. A global shift toward veganism, resulting in the elimination of the meat and animal agriculture industries, would protect the environment from various detrimental effects.
Ever since the industrial revolution, the world has been pumping a lot of CO₂ and at the same time the average temperature is increasing. Some of the thing that make up the most CO₂ emissions are cars, coal burning factories, burning fossil fuels, and cows farts. CO₂ is a greenhouse gas and that means that it traps heat, this gives it a direct correlation to the increasing temperatures. The more gas that is released into the atmosphere the more heat is trapped from the sun’s energy.
Everyone needs to respire in order to live, which includes plants and animals. Trees and plants help to regulate the carbon cycle. When the trees take in the carbon dioxide from the environment, they give back to oxygen. When trees are cut down, there is a break in the carbon cycle, and there is no exchange in both oxygen and carbon dioxide which causes a spike in carbon dioxide levels. When these occur carbon dioxide moves in the atmosphere and stores there as a greenhouse gas. “However, deforestation still remains the second leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions, just behind industrial emissions” (Culas). Greenhouse gases disturb the normal regulation of the weather. When greenhouse captures and stores heat problems occur. When the carbon dioxide levels in the greenhouse gases are increased, then the atmospheric conditions becomes unstable, which causes global warming. Global warming is the increase in the temperature of the earth, which is mostly caused by the greenhouse effects. Global warming present itself by affecting the environment by causing drought, floods, change in ecosystem, less fresh water available and other environmental issues. Trees play a big role not only in keeping the soil rich, regulating the water table, providing a stable anchor for soil to lessen soil erosion and providing nutrient rich soil for agriculture but it also helps in the absorption of carbon emission in the atmosphere.
This is a much bigger deal than people think. In fact, according to an article by Peta, How Does Eating Meat Harm the Environment, it has such an effect on the environment that the Union of Concerned Scientist list meat eaters as the second biggest environmental hazard facing the earth. The number one affect being fossil fuels produced by cars. It was also found in a report published by the Worldwatch Institute that nearly 51 percent of all greenhouse gasses are produced from animal agriculture. This is a very staggering number when a lot of research is being done to make vehicles more environmentally friendly when we could make a huge impact just by changing the way we eat. It is even more astounding that it takes the same number of fossil fuels to produce one hamburger as it takes to dive one car 20 miles (Peta How Does Eating Meat Harm the Environment). The production of this meat is also a big cost. It takes more than 80 percent of the corn we grow and more than 95 percent of oat are feed to livestock. The world’s cattle alone are feed the equal amount that would be needed to feed 8.7 billion people. That’s more than the entire world population. If we cut back on our consumption of meat we could take corn and oats that we produce and feed the world. When producing meat many of our natural resources are used. We use water, fossil fuels and top soil, and we are
When these agricultural resources are given to the animals involved in meat production, these resources are lost. Besides the loss of land, the process of animal production is contributing to pollution and other greenhouse gases that are doing irreplaceable damage to the environment and contribute to untold negative health
Research According to the article “The Carnivore’s Dilemma”, in American, most carbon dioxide emissions ... ... middle of paper ... ... veryday foods require a lot of energy and release a lot of greenhouse gases to produce. This is the reason we should stop wasting the foods, consume less meat, and eat more locally grown food.
There are numerous factors that are solely responsible for this change, which are both natural and man-made. Climate change has led to a decrease in quality and quantity of plant produce and livestock because of heat stress, drought and an increase in plant and animal diseases. According to Health and Safety Executive (HSE), (n.d), heat stress is a component of climate change “that causes the body temperature to fail”, and is a global problem which affects agriculture and livestock. The effect of heat stress on livestock’s has become greater for animals such as dairy cows and beef cattle. When animals are in distress due to temperature rise, they usually cut back on their feeding practices; have a rise in body temperature and face weight loss.
One of the most evident problems associated to the environment is the issue of the logging of trees, mainly in undisturbed places such as the Amazon basin. Trees are considered the lungs of the Earth. They recycle all the polluting carbon in the air and return oxygen back into our atmosphere, creating a stable cycle of carbon in our atmosphere. However, the impeccable rates which trees are being cut down in our forests have grown to ever increasing and alarming rates. Trees that are made way for farming are burnt up releasing deadly amounts of carbon and thus leading to the problem of global warming. As its names suggest the world is slowly warming up and without any notice the environment which God has gave us will be slowly eradicated. The daily lives which humans carry on about every day are also a factor influencing on our environment and global warming. By driving cars that have a thirst for petrol we are releasing carbon dioxide and furthermore impacting on the world?s climate. In Australia environmental impact has always been evident. Land clearing especially in places such as Queensland has caused land to lay dry and lifeless where all forms of life is destroyed. By clearing land we are not only affecting our climate but are also destroying animal habitat and the usage of the land. Senseless actions by commuters in Australia, emitting tons and tons of lethal gases vulnerable to the atmosphere are starting to take its toll on our climate. We are seeing a harsher climate and at the same time less rain. If we want to preserve our world we must take a stance on this issue and take action for what is right, not carrying on the actions that will lead to a desolate, destroyed Earth.
But they can become carbon sources when they are cut or burned. Tropical forests hold more than 210 gigatons of carbon and deforestation represents around 15% of greenhouse gas emissions. These GHG emissions lead to rise in temperatures, weather changes, water changes and increase the chance of extreme weather events. In Sumatra, for example rainforests on deep peat lands are being cleared and converted to plantations, leading to the high GHG emissions in Indonesia. These climate changes can affect forest creatures due to loss of food and water, while some can adapt species losses can occur