Just a couple of weeks ago, the Arctic Circle reached 90 degrees Fahrenheit,
or 32 degrees Celsius. Record- and near-record-high temperatures have singed the
northern hemisphere the entire summer, a clear consequence of overall rising
global temperatures. But according to The Guardian,
it’s not just the air that’s warming up; ocean temperatures are rising and it’s
threatening marine life.
Earlier this month scientists recorded
all-time-high seawater temperatures off the coast of California near San Diego.
In fact, between 1982 and 2016, the number of “marine heatwaves has doubled,
and experts expect this to become more common and intense as the planet
continues to warm.
This warming will damage fragile underwater
ecosystems like kelp forests and coral reefs and endanger countless fish
species and other marine life. Over the past two years, consistent high
temperatures off eastern Australia have killed as much as half of the shallow coral
reefs in the Great Barrier Reef.
According to Thomas Frolicher, a climate
scientist at the University of Bern in Switzerland, “This trend will only
further accelerate with global warming. If we don’t take action now to curb
carbon emissions, scientists warn the planet faces disastrous consequences—from
intensified storms and rising sea levels to
the extinction of millions of species. And while
not everyone can afford an electric car or solar panels, there is something we
can all do: go vegan.
You see, animal agriculture is one of the
leading contributors to climate change. In fact, raising animals
for food produces more greenhouse gases than all the cars, planes, and other forms of transportation combined.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,
carbon dioxide emissions from raising farmed animals make up
about 15 percent of global human-induced emissions, with beef and milk
production as the leading culprits.
What’s more, a recent study from researchers
at the University of Oxford found that ditching animal products could reduce your food carbon footprint by up to 73 percent.
They also found that if everyone went vegan, global land use could be reduced
by 75 percent. This would be comparable to the size of the United States,
China, Australia, and the whole European Union combined. Let that sink in.
Similarly, a recent report from Farm Animal
Investment Risk and Return found that the meat industry was jeopardizing the Paris climate
agreement by failing to properly report its emissions, despite being
the single largest contributor to climate change.
Since the majority of us are now on the same page when it
comes to climate change, it’s time to acknowledge that there is no
such thing as “sustainable meat. All the facts prove that plant-based
alternatives to meat, dairy, and eggs take a mere fraction of the resources to produce.
But a vegan diet isn’t just good for the
planet—it also spares countless animals a lifetime of misery at factory
farms. Pigs, cows, chickens, and other farmed animals suffer
horribly their entire lives. From birth to death, these innocent animals are
caught in a nightmare: crated and caged, cut and burned, and brutally killed.
Don’t wait another minute to act on climate change. Join the millions of
people helping protect
farmed animals and the planet by switching to a vegan diet.
Click here to get started, and click here
for our Pinterest page with hundreds of vegan recipes!