Animal agriculture has an impact impact on the environment. It is estimated it accounts for 75% of greenhouse gas emissions in the developing world(walsh). About two thirds of agricultural land is used to feed livestock(Brooks). This is pretty bad I mean we could be using this land to feed the world; but instead we are using it for what? Bacon. One of the major issues in animal agriculture is greenhouse gas emissions. Despite the fact that seventy percent of meat is made under the fair trade agreement(Grandin) animal agriculture brings about more greenhouse gases than transport.
It also generates sixty five percent of human related nitrous oxide . Nitrous oxide has two hundred sixty five the global warming potential as co2(matthews). It also accounts for thirty seven percent of human produced methane(matthews). Meat-eating brings about many other problems including meat and dairy animals now accounting for twenty percent of biomass(matthews). Overall animal agriculture is to blame for eighteen percent of all greenhouse gases(matthews). Air quality issues are also higher near animal agriculture farms(lawton).
A lot of times the environment is even exploited(lawton). In animal agriculture there is one thousand kilograms of carbon for every for every one kilogram of animal protein often in the form of methane. Animal agriculture accounts for almost seventy five percent of greenhouse gases from the developing world. Animal agriculture will often even create dead zones. So despite the fact that animal agriculture provides a livelihood for millions of people. The facts speak for themselves. Land is also used poorly when animal agriculture is happening.
People have to water the animal clean the stall give it space to roam and people have to feed it. Over one point three billion tons of are consumed by farm animals(walsh). In poverty stricken areas cows eat up to ten times the feed of richer areas(walsh) which takes even more land. Two thirds of all farmland is being used to feed livestock(brooks). Which to give people an idea is forty percent of the world’s land surface(walsh). Not to mention the the deforestation that goes on from the country the food is from(brooks).
Not to mention that meat production is projected to double by two thousand and twenty(brooks). Live stock is estimated to use thirty percent of land space(matthews). Almost thirty three percent of arable land is used for livestock feed(matthews). On top of that twenty percent of pastures are considered lessened because of overgrazing(matthews). Animal agriculture also creates ocean dead zones(brooks). Animal agriculture overall is a bad thing because of land useage. Plus there are not enough people with animal agriculture degrees to put in good environmental legislature(grandin).
In animal agriculture the government does very little practical research(grandin). So even though it’s estimated that eighty percent of tax revenue comes from exported grain(grandin) which is one of the main ingredients in animal feed. So even though that it provides that much tax revenue. It is not worth it. Our planet is worth more than anything else so let it be. As an indian proverb once said “We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children”. So we need to protect this earth for the children and not just let land go to waste.
The children need this from us and it is the least we can do after ruining it so badly. There is just as much potential to use land correctly as there is to use it incorrectly so I sincerely hope that the right decisions will be made. Some deforestation is caused by livestock. In latin america it is of great importance where there is the largest net loss of forests according to FAO (livestock). In latin america due to the increased cattle population the grazing area has had to expand into the rainforest(livestock).
In Central America, forest area has gone own by about forty percent over the past forty years, with pasture and cattle population increasing rapidly at the same time(livestock). Between two thousand four and two thousand five about one point two million hectares of rainforest was cut down(livestock). The negative environmental effects caused by deforestation are huge and are the cause of soil degradation and erosion, water pollution, loss of biodiversity, and loss of carbon adding to global warming(livestock). = Thope that this essay at least makes people think about the environmental effects of what people eat.
Whatever people think about when people eat. I hope at least some of it is the environmental effects. There is also the fact that one little cheeseburger creates seven to twenty megajoules of energy used to feed, kill and freeze the cow, make the flour for the bread happen for bread, and even the pickles take energy(Sindicich). Plus there is the transportation of the cheeseburger(Sindicich). so next time people are at mcdonalds people do not have to change the order just think about the effect of the order whether it is ethical environmental or health related. Just think about it.
Over one cow’s lifetime it will produce two hundred and twenty kilograms of methane(Sindicich). It is known that people can do this. It is one small way to make a huge impact. Next time people are ordering think about what people are taking. All that can happen is someone can inform people. Utmentally people have to make their own decisions. Please just consider being kind to the animals the planet and your body. The chaseburger effect is real. Again this is one small thing I hope people can do it. I like the environment and this is something I can do to help. Hopefully people can too.
