DO
ANIMALS CONTRIBUTE TO CLIMATE CHANGE?
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Although much of the world is focused on
transitioning away from fossil fuels as a way to fight climate change, there is
another, often-overlooked climate change culprit. It is animal agriculture and its environmental impact on our climate. Animal agriculture is the second
largest contributor to human-made greenhouse gas
Methane is released from enteric
fermentation and partially from animal manure and it
contributes to climate change. In the United States,
methane from the normal digestive processes (farting) of animals totalled 164.3 million metric tons of
methane in every year. Cattle are by far the biggest source of gas emissions
from animals.
A widely-cited
2013 report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), estimates about
14.5 percent of global GHG emissions, or 7.1 gigatons of CO2 equivalent, can be
attributed to the livestock sector annually. This is broadly equivalent to the
emissions
from all the fuel burned by all the world’s transport vehicles, including cars, trucks,
trains, boats and airplanes. It also accounts for five
percent of global anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions
which slso contributes to climate change.
It represents 44
percent of
anthropogenic methane emissions, the primary driver of climate change
related to livestock, as methane which is 34 times more potent than carbon
dioxide over the past /
Cow farts, and cow burps
are also a big contributer of
methane levels in the atmosphere. Livestock (cows, pigs, sheep and other animals) are definitely responsible for 14.5% of global
greenhouse gas emissions in the last 100 years. It makes up 75-80 percent of the total agricultural methane
emissions.
Furthermore, air and water
pollution can be directly attributed to the livestock sector, which is the largest
contributor to global water pollution. The livestock sector is also one of the
leading drivers of global deforestation, and is linked to 75 percent of
historic deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest.
Concentrated animal farming
operations present additional public health risks to nearby communities, as
viral diseases may spread from sick livestock to humans and the increased use
of antibiotics encourages antibiotic resistance. Irresponsible manure
management from high-volume facilities risks aerosolizing fecal matter that may reach nearby
homes and cause respiratory problems. Livestock waste can also pass through the soil to groundwater, which may then contaminate
nearby streams and rivers with nitrates and pathogens.
Global emissions from the
livestock sector increased by 51 percent between 1961 and 2010,
spurred by a 54 percent increase in methane and nitrous oxide emissions from
livestock manure. Moreover, approximately one gigaton of carbon dioxide
equivalent worth of animal-based foods is wasted globally every year. Incidentally , a gigaton is 1,000,000,000 metric tons
Animal agriculture
and meat consumption are significant contributors to global warming, but far
less so than fossil fuel combustion.
According to the United Nations (2017), the
world population increased by approximately 1 billion inhabitants during the
last 12 years, reaching nearly 7.6 billion in 2017. Although this growth is
slower than 10 years ago (1.24% vs. 1.10% per year), with an average increase
of 83 million people annually, global population will reach about 8.6 billion
in 2030 and 9.8 billion in 2050. Population growth, urbanization, and income
rise in developing countries are the main driver of the increase.
What this means is that more people are going to
be farting and burping while breathing in air that has less breathable air that isn’t
isn’t infected by the dangers in the air.
The good news is
that none of us in this era will be around in 2050 gasping for breathable air.
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