Cattle: They may seem Harmless, but they are harming the environment. (Source: Berkeley News, 2015)[1]

by Aimee Glennon

As a nation, we are obsessed with meat. From McDonald’s to Burger King it is hard to imagine a world without it. However, it is now estimated that ‘the livestock sector alone contributes to 18% of anthropogenic emissions’[2].This is more than all forms of transport combined globally.

Yet people still don’t realise the link between the meat on their plate, and climate change. With the world population set to grow to ‘9.7 billion by 2050’[3], and the demand for and consumption of meat ever growing, it is clear drastic changes need to be made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, is simply changing our diets enough?

How the meat industry is causing climate change

So why does the meat industry contribute to climate change? The main reasons are that it causes the emission of methane gas, the degradation of land, and the loss of bio-diversity. The meat industry alone accounts for ‘28%’[4] of all global methane emissions. With animals, such as chickens, sheep, cows and pigs producing methane as a digestive by-product, and cows being the biggest contributors. It also radiates from their manure and with an estimate of ‘1.4 billion’[5] cows across the world, you can imagine the pile of poo we are in. So, why is this a problem? Methane gas which is ’30 times more potent than carbon dioxide’[6], absorbs heat so therefore has a warming effect on the earth. More meat production equals more cows producing methane, and more methane equals global warming. This is particularly alarming as a temperate rise of just 2°C can have detrimental impacts on the environment, destabilising the conditions which allow life to flourish and grow on our planet. Not all animals can adapt quickly enough to this environmental change, causing mass extinction and loss of bio-diversity.

Degradation of land

Causes of Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, 2000-2005 (Source: Mongabay.com, 2015) [10]

It is noted that an astonishing ‘40% of the world’s land’[7] is used to grow food to feed our population. The majority of which is set aside for the cultivation of livestock. Taking the Brazilian Amazon as a case study, the primary source of deforestation there is Cattle farming, ‘attributing to around 70% of total deforestation’[8]. The reason for this is that Brazil is the world’s largest distributer of beef, farming over ‘180 million cattle’[9]

The amount of land needed for such a large expansion requires huge amounts of deforestation. Including the land needed to grow crops to feed such a magnitude of cattle. With a predicted extension of ‘93% by the year 2018’[11], it is clear to see the harmful effects this growth will have on the environment. Less trees to absorb harmful gases equals more carbon dioxide being released into the air, causing global warming.

However, the environmental impact of the meat industry can depend both on the region and the method being used to farm the animals. For example, in the global North, animal farming is much more land focused as opposed to the method of battery farming in countries such as the USA. The Global South have the biggest environmental impact as ‘poor feed quality’[13] means that also cows need to eat more grass. This means that they produce up to ‘10 times more carbon dioxide’[14]than in other countries such as the USA.
 

What can we do to help?

This brings about a structure vs agency debate. Even if we as individuals were to choose a vegetarian or vegan diet, as long as there is demand for meat in society, it will always produce a supply. Voluntary lifestyle responses are too insignificant and gradual. If the meat industry and population continue to grow at the rate that they are, a more collective response is essential to drive through changes. The responsibility for this lies within systematic societal change, such as the introduction of a meat allowance and advertising towards a meat free life style.
Without a change to the system, people will passively consume Big Macs as the world continues to decay.

References

European Health Parliment, C. O. (2016). Tackling Meat Production and Consumption. Climate Change And Health, 1. Retrieved from http://www.healthparliament.eu/documents/10184/0/EHP_PAPERS_2016_ClimateChangeAndHealth_SCHERM.pdf/27d853e4-ac5f-4bc7-be34-6642035ff7f0
Gerber, P. S. (2013). Tackling Climate Change Through Livestock: A Global Assessment of Emissions and Mitigation Opportunities. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome.
Jones, S. A. (2015, July 29). Global population set to hit 9.7 billion people by 2050 despite fall in fertility. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jul/29/un-world-population-prospects-the-2015-revision-9-7-billion-2050-fertility
Kelly, M. (2014, March 26). A more potent greenhouse gas than CO2, methane emissions will leap as Earth warms (Nature). Retrieved from blogs.princeton: https://blogs.princeton.edu/research/2014/03/26/a-more-potent-greenhouse-gas-than-co2-methane-emissions-will-leap-as-earth-warms-nature/
Mongabay.com, (2014) Image of pie chart showing Causes of Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. [Image] Retrieved From: mongabay.com
Mykos. (2011, June 3). Fight Global Warming! Eat Less Meat! (Or None At All). Retrieved from Price Of Meat: https://priceofmeat.wordpress.com/
Sarma, P. (2014, July). Beef Production is Killing the Amazon Rainforest. Retrieved from One Green Planet: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/beef-production-is-killing-the-amazon-rainforest/
Stehfest, E. B. (2009, February 4th). Climatic Change. Climatic Change,Volume 95, Issue 1, 83-102. doi:doi:10.1007/s10584-008-9534-6
The Economist Online. (2011, July 27). Global Livestock Counts-Counting Chickens. Retrieved from The Economist Online: http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/07/global-livestock-counts
Walsh, B. (2013, December 16). The Triple Whopper Environmental Impact of Global Meat Production. Retrieved from Science Time: http://science.time.com/2013/12/16/the-triple-whopper-environmental-impact-of-global-meat-production/

Notes

[1] Bekeley News. (2015) Image of Cattle in a field [Image] 
[2] European Health Parliment, C. O. (2016). ‘Tackling Meat Production and Consumption’. Climate Change And Health, 1(1), pp. 1, (Accessed 6 February 2017)
[3] Jones, S. A. (2015). ‘Global population set to hit 9.7 billion people by 2050 despite fall in fertility’. (Accessed 6 February 2017)
[4] Mykos. (2011). ‘Fight Global Warming! Eat Less Meat! (Or None At All)’. (Accessed 6 February 2017)
[5] The Economist Online. (2011). ‘Global Livestock Counts-Counting Chickens’. (Accessed 6 February 2017)
[6] Kelly, M. (2014). ‘A more potent greenhouse gas than CO2, methane emissions will leap as Earth warms (Nature)’. March 26, (Accessed 6 February 2017)
[7] Walsh, B. (2013a). ‘The Triple Whopper Environmental Impact of Global Meat Production’. (Accessed 6 February 2017)
[8] Sarma, P. (2014a). ‘Beef Production is Killing the Amazon Rainforest’. (Accessed 6 February)
[9] Sarma, P. (2014b). ‘Beef Production is Killing the Amazon Rainforest’. (Accessed 6 February)
[10] Mongabay.com, (2014) Image of pie chart showing Causes of Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. [Image] 
[11] Sarma, P. (2014c). ‘Beef Production is Killing the Amazon Rainforest’.  (Accessed 6 February)
[13] Walsh, B. (2013b). ‘The Triple Whopper Environmental Impact of Global Meat Production’. (Accessed 6 February 2017)
[14] Walsh, B. (2013c). ‘The Triple Whopper Environmental Impact of Global Meat Production’. (Accessed 6 February 2017)

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