One of the biggest issues the world faces today is global warming. As oceans warm up, ice caps and glaciers melt, causing land along coasts to flood. As temperatures shift, animals migrate, making symbiotic relationships out of sync. The effects of global warming are small, but it is estimated that within a hundred years, the earth will be the hottest it has ever been. Throughout history, people have learned that carpooling and recycling will save the world from global warming. Although it helps, recent research found that animal agriculture affects climate change more than fossil fuel emissions. Not only that, but animal agriculture contributes to resource depletion, water scarcity, and world hunger. In order to decrease the rate of global …show more content…
Animal agriculture causes resource depletion, habitat loss, water scarcity, and global hunger. Not only do livestock add on to greenhouse gas emissions, but livestock uses thirty to forty percent of the earth’s entire land surface. As the world’s appetite for meat increases, countries are bulldozing huge areas of land to make room for livestock. Raising animals for food is responsible for ninety-one percent of the destruction of the Amazon. Approximately one to two acres of rainforest are being cleared out every second. More than twenty percent of the world 's oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest. As more trees are cut down, the less carbon dioxide that can be absorbed. For each hamburger that originates from animals raised on rainforest land, fifty-five square feet of forest has been cleared out. Not only that, but most of the freshwater available for consumption is used for agribusiness. Animal agriculture is responsible for thirty percent of all freshwater consumption on earth. Growing crops to feed livestock consumes fifty to sixty percent of the water. One pound of beef requires two thousand and five hundred gallons of water. One gallon of milk requires a thousands gallons of water. One pound of eggs require four hundred and seventy-seven gallons of water. In addition to consuming huge amounts of water, animal agriculture has also polluted millions of gallons of water. Each day, factory farms produce millions of pounds of manure, which end up in rivers, oceans, and lakes. The one trillion pounds of waste produced by factory-farmed animals each year are used to fertilize crops. The waste runs off into waterways along with the drugs and bacteria that they contain. Waste ends up on crops and pits in the ground, polluting groundwater. The excrements of factory farming has contaminated and polluted thirty-five thousand miles of rivers in twenty-two states. The use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers poison waterways and creates dead
Humans are damaging the planet to live comfortably, we must change the way food is distributed worldwide, support local farmers and switch to a healthier diet in order to stop global warming. The current global has been getting better for us humans over the years, from eating bread and eggs 3 times a day in the XV century, now we can eat better than the kings of those times, however the much of the food in not healthy and the global food system still fails in getting food to every individual in the planet and in addition it contributes to the destruction of our world. Ms. Anna Lappe explains how the food system contributes to around 1/3 of the global warming issue in her essay “The Climate Crisis at the End of Our Fork”, while a group of Plos one explains the issues about the export and import of food growth over the last 50 years in the
Global Warming, much of what does or does not happen forty years from now, rests on our actions or inactions taken between now and then. The crucial question is whether we should pour all our resources into mitigation – reducing our carbon emissions. According to scientists who study the climate, there are other environmental problems; “we now face a global crisis in land use and agriculture that could undermine the health, security, and sustainability of our civilization”. Rather than worry too much about emissions, we should accept the world is going to get warmer anyway and adapt to global warming by building better flood defenses and developing drought-resistant crops. We cannot dispute that automobiles, factories, and power plants, displace an unprecedented twenty tons of carbon monoxide per person per year.
Do you know what Marxism is? Do you even understand what it means? Well I bet you have no clue what I am even talking about right now so I’m going to tell you all about Marxism what it is and what types are there. I’m also going to tell you how Marxism relates to Animal Farm the book. I hope after you read this you understand and know what Marxism is. I also hope you enjoy reading this about Marxism.
One of the biggest problems facing the world today is global warming. The main reason behind it is the production of carbon dioxide from our cars, factories, power plants and other greenhouse gases, which is having a heating effect on the atmosphere, and this affects our ocean weather and agriculture, thereby dangerous to human life. “In Climate Crisis at the End of Our Fork “Anna Lappe gives her views on how global warming can lead to many problems, what are its probable causes and potential solutions to it. Whereas in “Research and Development on Climate Change and Greenhouse Gases in Support of Climate Smart Livestock Production and a Vibrant Industry” Scholtz discusses the impact of global warming and continued, uncontrolled release of greenhouse gases on the livestock industry and consequently food security as well as
My starting point for this paper was the movie Food Inc. directed by Robert Kenner. Although the film’s main purpose was to expose how detrimental today’s food industry is to our health, at the same time I found myself wondering how the food industry and our diets affect the environment. The film mentions how the meat industry takes heavy tolls on the environment because of the land that must be devoted in order to raise livestock—both to grow the food for the animals to eat and to provide a place for the animals to reside. The film also mentions how there are only 4 or 5 major crops that are grown in America—including corn, wheat, and soybean, which are used a lot for animal feed—which decreases America’s biodiversity (Food). All of these things led me to pursue the question: how does our consumption of animal products affect the environment?
There is much to be said about how exactly meat is being produced. In the present day, there are hardly any farms out there that still practice the traditional and environmental - friendly way. Animal agriculture is widely used all over the world and greatly contributes to climate change. Meat production leads to global warming because of the combination of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The process of raising animal is the major source to these harmful gases. It is vital to save the world from the worst impacts of climate change by reducing meat consumption. However stopping this meat eating system is extremely difficult, given that we had been consuming meat ever since our ancestors domesticated animals for that purpose. Over the decade Animal agriculture has been getting worse and worse. In 1973 when the Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz announced ‘’ what we want out of agriculture is plenty of food’’, overproduction was encouraged and lowering the price of meat was carried out; this originally started when there was a massive increase in corn (Wolfson). In order to keep up this mass production of meat, multiple pounds of grains are fed to livestock. Livestock industries depended on corn and soy based food and used over half of the artificial fertilizer used in the United States (McWilliams).
Global warming is one of the most serious problems that people all over the world are dealing with. In fact, however, many people may not realize that global warming also affects animals as badly as it does to human. All Americans should help protect animals from global warming because global warming changes animals’ habitats, decreases food supplies of animals, and even shortens animals’ lifespan.
Cruelty toward animals, huge economic problems, and major health concerns are just three reasons why factory farming should be banned worldwide. Many people argue that factory farming is the only way to meet growing demands for food in the world today. However, factory farming is just not necessary, especially when it comes down to killing innocent animals in order to feed people. A way to put an end to the factory farming system is by buying our food from smaller, sustainable farms. These businesses still aim to profit from their labor, but that’s not their only objective. (The Issues: Factory Farming, n.d.) They simply will not sacrifice the health of the land or the quality of food simply to make a few extra dollars.
Furthermore, factory farming can also be very dangerous for the environment. Gale (2013) states, “...the livestock industry accounts for 80% of the greenhouse gas emission, while the methane produced by cattle and their manure has a global warming effect equivalent to that of 33 million automobiles.” By working together to stop factory farming, people can save their environment. They will also have a cleaner air to breath ...
A United Nations report states that land used for animal agriculture, both for grazing and production of crops fed to livestock, takes up an astounding 30% of land on Earth. ("Meat Production Wastes Natural Resources") To meet the industry’s demands, over 260 million acres of forest in the U.S. have been cleared to grow grain fed to farm animals. ("Meat Production Wastes Natural Resources") With that in mind, the meat industry also dumps disease-causing pathogens through animal waste that pollutes water and forces the need for waste lagoons to be constructed, which are susceptible to leaking and flooding. ("Facts about Pollution from Livestock Farms”) Scientists say that about 14% of the world’s greenhouse gases are released by said agriculture industries, which is a growing concern for climate change and global warming. (Silverman) The meat industry uses one-third of all the fossil fuels consumed in the United States. (Moore) There is no question that farming animals has a negative effect on the environment and steps should be taken to mitigate air and water pollution risks and future deforestation. If animal agriculture was phased out, land used for animal grazing could be returned to forest land and some of it converted into fields for cultivating crops for humans. A global shift toward veganism, resulting in the elimination of the meat and animal agriculture industries, would protect the environment from various detrimental effects.
Climate change is one of the major issues surfacing on Earth over the past century. The earth’s temperature has increased over the years, leading to detrimental effects on the economic and life sources of people, especially that of agricultural production and livestock. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary (2014), defined climate change as a change in global climate patterns apparent from the mid late 20th century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, (2007) predicts that by 2100 the increase in global average surface temperature may be between 1.8° C and 4.0° C. With increases of 1.5° C to 2.5° C, approximately 20 to 30 percent of plant and animal species are expected to be at risk of extinction. Moreover, the IPCC (2007) purported that climate change has severe consequences for food security in developing countries.
“Currently 80% of the world’s agricultural land is used directly or indirectly for animal production. In the US over half the total land mass is used for the production of meat and dairy products” (Clarke).
Our planet has managed to survive and thrive for about 4.54 billion years. In the last 2 million years we have caused enough damage and destruction to make our world “broken” beyond repair. We will not be able to get back the world we once had. The reason behind this is global warming, specifically, the increase of the global temperature due to the burning of fossil fuels and the release of greenhouse gas emissions into our atmosphere. If we do not make the issue of global warming a priority in today`s society, our entire way of life will be at risk. There are many reasons why so many people believe global warming should be a concern. Thoroughly examined points include: scientific predictions, rising temperatures, human causes, drastic climate changes and animal adaptations. Though there are several points arguing how global warming should not be a concern, the reality of the matter is that it needs to be taken into consideration on a global scale before it is too late, as to do nothing would have devastating implications on humankind.
Bibliography Fiala, Nathan. "How Meat Contributes to Global Warming." The American Scientific Magazine. Journal Article, 4 Feb. 2009.
Global warming is a serious problem with two major effects which are increasing in sea level and degradation of wild lives. Increase in sea level is affecting the entire landmass of the earth. According to NASA, the polar ice cap is melting at the alarming rate of nine percent per decade. Arctic ice thickness has decreased 40 percent since the 1960s (Oskin). The amount of water is more than the land in our planet. If this global warming continues at this pace, soon there will be no ground left on earth. The terrestrial animals will be exterminated from the earth if glo...