Environmentalists have long argued that the practice of rearing animals for meat products can have huge negative impacts on the environment.
Climate change figured prominently, along with water pollution and desertification. The report stated that worldwide, livestock farming generates 18 per cent of the planet's greenhouse gasses. In New Zealand, the figure is around 50 per cent if you include other agricultural emissions such as nitrous oxide.
Two billion ruminant animals, bred annually for human consumption are a major source of methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas.Over a 20 year period methane is 72 times more potent than CO2 (2).
Even with the best of intentions, converting to large scale organic animal farming would do little to reduce methane or nitrous oxide emissions. Deforestation and water consumption would remain high, even with the use of organics to raise ruminant livestock.
While Al Gore's documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" went some way to increase mainstream awareness of climate change issues, it makes no mention of agriculture and focuses almost exclusively on carbon dioxide. In fact, the mainstream media generally overlooks this important climate change contributor.
All over the world scientists are warning governments, leaders and the public, that time is running out. Climate change is something that is affecting, or will affect, every human being on Planet Earth. Yet many of us live as if there is no problem and nothing to worry about.
Calculations have been done on the effect of a meat-based diet on our individual carbon footprint. A team of researchers from Chicago University found that we would reduce our individual carbon footprint more by changing to a plant based diet (an estimated reduction of one and a half tonnes of carbon emissions per person annually) than by switching to driving a hybrid car (2).
The figures indicate that a vegan driving a high powered 4x4 car is more environmentally friendly than a meat eater who uses a bicycle to get around.
It is probably too late to rely on a reduction of carbon dioxide alone to avert the catastrophes heading our way. About 20 per cent of the carbon already emitted will last in the atmosphere for thousands of years. Even if emissions were to be dramatically cut in the near future there would not be a noticeable temperature drop in the short or medium term.
Better news is that methane has a much shorter half life than CO2 and if we stopped producing methane in the vast quantities that we are now doing, most of this gas would clear within a relatively short space of time.
It is imperative that we reduce our CO2 emissions soon, but a practical solution to cut the temperature rise in the short term would be to cut the amount of meat we eat. The most effective way to reduce our individual carbon footprint is to consume less meat.
Our planet just doesn't have the resources to meet the demands of 7 billion humans and 50 billion farmed animals (3).
References
1. UN FOA Report, 2007, Livestock's Long Shadow: http://www.foa.org/rep/010/ao701e00.htm
2. 'It's Better To Green Your Diet Than Your Car:' New Scientist 2005 Issue 2530, p19
3. Dr. Aryan Tavakkoli, Em=C2-Eating Meat=Catastrophe2: Pacific Ecologist, Issue 18, 2009, Wellington, NZ.
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