According to University
of Texas at Austin professor Raj Patel, an expert in ecology and food systems,
our demand for meat is driving the sixth mass extinction.
Professor Patel is
one of many leading academics who contemplate declaring a new age of Earth,
called the Anthropocene, since “the fossils of soon-to-be extinct animals will
form a line in the rocks of the future.
In an interview with the Independent, he
said, “We’re losing species we have never heard of, those we’ve yet to put a
name to and industrial agriculture is very much at the spear-tip of that.
Similarly, in 2016 the
World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London published a report
asserting that animal agriculture is causing a mass
extinction. The report concluded
that animal populations declined by 58 percent between 1970 and 2012, and losses
are expected to reach 67 percent by 2020.
Forests that are
home to endangered animals like the Sumatran elephant are being cleared to grow
feed crops for cows, pigs, and chickens at factory farms. And fish like
anchovies and sardines are being caught in alarming quantities to be made into feed
for farmed salmon, pigs, and chickens. This means that penguins and other animals
who naturally feed on these fish now face a grave situation.
Animal agriculture,
including land for grazing and growing feed crops, now uses more than one-third of Earth’s landmass. What’s more, the World Bank reports that
animal agriculture is culpable for nearly 91 percent of Amazon
rainforest destruction.
To make matters
worse, animals raised for food produce 7
million pounds of excrement every minute. This waste often pollutes waterways and nearby ecosystems, killing
wildlife and destroying habitats. One case in point is the recently announced dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, which is the largest ever recorded.
Furthermore, animal
agriculture produces more greenhouse gas emissions than all the cars, planes,
and other forms of transportation combined, exacerbating the perilous effects of
climate change.
But not only does
animal agriculture devastate wildlife and the environment; it causes immense
suffering to billions of farmed animals.
Pigs, cows, and
chickens at factory farms live tortured lives. They suffer unspeakable
cruelties, such as
extreme confinement, barbaric mutilations, and horrific deaths.
Watch.
Fortunately, it’s
not too late to take action. We can all withdraw our support from this cruel
and destructive industry by ditching meat, dairy, and eggs in favor of healthy, humane
alternatives.
Click here to get started!