A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences found a staggering 60 percent of all mammals are animals raised for food.
The report titled Biomass Distribution on Earth assessed all life on Earth. The data also
revealed that 36 percent of mammals are humans and just 4 percent are wild
animals. As for birds, 70 percent are farmed, and a mere 30 percent are wild.
The study delved deeply into how humans impact
the planet—for example, humans have caused the loss of 83 percent of all wild
mammals since the dawn of civilization.
Ron Milo, a professor at the Weizmann Institute
of Science in Israel who led the study, stated:
I was shocked to find there wasn’t already a comprehensive, holistic estimate of all the different components of biomass. I would hope this gives people a perspective on the very dominant role that humanity now plays on Earth. Our dietary choices have a vast effect on the habitats of animals, plants and other organisms.
This isn’t the first study to find that factory
farming negatively impacts wildlife and our planet. 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.
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 dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, which is the
largest dead zone 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 for 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. And check out our Pinterest
page for thousands of recipe ideas.