A recent VICE
News article spotlights the connection between animal agriculture and
climate change.
Raising cattle for dairy and beef is one of the leading producers
of methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas that has 25 times the global warming effect
of carbon dioxide on a 100-year scale. As developing countries become
wealthier and increasingly switch to a Western-style diet, global emissions are
expected to rise.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that intestinal
gas from livestock, mainly cattle, is the second-largest source of U.S.
methane emissions. According to a report released by the EPA last week, these
emissions added up to the equivalent of 648 million metric tons of carbon
dioxide in 2014, with manure adding another 60 million.
“Americans eat a huge amount of meat. We eat 60 percent
more than Europeans and somewhere between 150 or 200 percent of our needs,”
remarks Dawn Undurraga, a nutritionist with Environmental Working Group.
While many think eating chicken, a less carbon-intensive meat,
is better for the environment, consuming just a four-ounce serving is still
comparable to driving a typical car nearly two miles. The same size serving of
pork adds another mile. British
think-tank Chatham
House reports that worldwide, livestock accounts for about 15 percent of
global emissions and reducing consumption of animal products “will be
critical” to hitting the climate change targets leaders set in Paris in
December.
Governments of developing countries are trying to avoid the
mistakes of the Western world. In Brazil, one of the largest beef producers, the
government has established a set of dietary guidelines that encourages
consumption of less carbon-intensive protein sources.
“I find it hard to believe we couldn’t waste less and
eat better and not pollute the planet as much, Undurraga says.
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