The Impact Of Animal Agriculture On The Environment

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What should govern our eating habits? Should base our consumption choices on foods that do not degrade the environment? Is it necessary to consider human rights, fair trade and food worker injustices? Should we base the foundation of our eating habits on animal welfare? The meaning of eating ethically is a multifaceted subject. There are so many varying issues when it comes to how humans have influenced the treatment and the development of animals throughout the evolution of man, from the carnivorous Neanderthal to the present day omnivorous Homosapien. Exploitation of animals includes using them for food, research, pets and educational purposes exclusively for the benefit of the human race. Animal rights activism attempts to bring awareness …show more content…

The biggest threat to the environment is due to animal waste produce by factory farming. “According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the EPA, animal feeding operations produce approximately 500 million tons of manure every year”( AN HSUS Report: The Impact of Industrialized Animal Agriculture on the Environment). Traditional farming operations that include the production of produce as well as livestock use the animal waste as fertilizer for crops, the high nitrogen levels help to boost plant growth. However industrial livestock companies must use other disposable methods due to the lack of land required for grassroots solution to animal waste. Instead corporations will haul to smaller nearby farming operations, the intense concentration of the manure in these agriculture areas cause high levels of harmful natural occurring chemicals found in animal waste end up in the water supply. Water runoff inevitably ends up in streams, ponds, lakes and drinking water. The high levels pollutants such as phosphorus and nitrogen removes oxygen from the water which is detrimental to aquatic life. Moreover the use of manure lagoons, which are essentially open pits used for storage of manure, pose a great risk to air quality due to the release of high levels of harmful gases (An HSUS Report: The Impact of Industrialized Animal Agriculture on the Environment). There is also great risk that manure lagoons could spill and leak into nearby water supplies which poses an immense threat to local wildlife and aquatic animals. The increasing amount of these pollutants in the air put workers and nearby residents at risk for developing severe chronic illnesses and contributes to the declining overall quality of breathable air. Factory farming is a major contributor to global climate change due to the emission of green house gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. As the

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