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CLIMATE ( about 50 articles to pick from)
<< Go back to survey instructions page with links. __________________ The following institutions have published research, reports or news items on the pollution to the planet caused by animal agriculture including fishing. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations Greenpeace Yale University The World Bank The World Watch Institute Oxford University The Natural Resources Defence Council United Nations Environment Programme World Wildlife Fund National Geographic The World Health Organisation The Environmental Working Group __________________________ According to a study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions. That's greater than the entire transportation sector. http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.htm According to Greenpeace, animal agriculture is the leading cause of Amazon Rainforest destruction. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/cattle-mapping/ Yale University agrees. They concluded that 80% of Amazon Rainforest destruction is caused by animal agriculture. http://globalforestatlas.yale.edu/amazon/land-use/cattle-ranching The World Bank disagrees. They concluded that animal agriculture is actually responsible for 90% of Amazon Rainforest destruction. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/15060 When taking deforestation into account, a World Watch Institute report concluded that animal agriculture is responsible for 51% of greenhouse gas emissions. http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6294 Research by scientists at Oxford University showed that avoiding meat, dairy, and eggs would reduce food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 70%. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/news/201603_Plant_based_diets According to a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), 9 out of the 10 most climate-damaging foods are animal products. https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/10-common-climate-damaging-foods-infographic.pdf Greenpeace concluded that "Global meat and dairy production and consumption must be cut in half by 2050 to avoid dangerous climate change and keep the Paris Agreement on track." https://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/15111/greenpeace-calls-for-decrease-in-meat-and-dairy-production-and-consumption-for-a-healthier-planet/ A report from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Clean Water Network "documents how animal waste from factory farms threatens human health and our nation's rivers. Most factory farms store animal waste in open lagoons as large as several football fields. Lagoons routinely burst, sending millions of gallons of manure into waterways and spreading microbes that can cause gastroenteritis, fevers, kidney failure, and death." https://www.nrdc.org/resources/cesspools-shame-how-factory-farm-lagoons-and-sprayfields-threaten-environmental-and-public The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the world's largest collection of floating trash. A peer-reviewed study published in the journal Scientific Reports concluded that fishing nets account for 46% of the trash, with the majority of the rest composed of other fishing industry gear, including ropes, oyster spacers, eel traps, crates, and baskets. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-22939-w 30% of the Earth's ice-free land is occupied by animal agriculture, including using land to grow grains, vegetables, and soy to fatten up billions of farmed animals every year. http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e02.pdf According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the calories that are lost by feeding soy, vegetables, and grains to animals, instead of using them directly as human food, could feed an additional 3.5 billion people. http://www.globalagriculture.org/report-topics/meat-and-animal-feed.html The World Wildlife Fund concluded that meat-based diets are the leading cause of species extinction. https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/appetite-for-destruction It takes about 2500 gallons of water to produce 1lb of beef and 896 gallons of water to produce 1lb of cheese. https://www.ewg.org/meateatersguide/interactive-graphic/water/ At the rate in which humans consume fish, we may see fishless oceans by 2048: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/11/061102-seafood-threat.html Is renewable energy enough to stop global warming? What about animal agriculture? https://cleantechnica.com/2018/12/09/is-renewable-energy-enough-to-stop-global-warming-what-about-animal-agriculture/ The opportunity cost of animal-based diets exceeds all food losses. https://www.pnas.org/content/115/15/3804 The destruction of wild habitat for farming, logging and development has resulted in the start of the 6th Mass Extinction of Life to occur in the Earth’s four billion year history. ~ United Nations (IPBES) report on Biodiversity. One in four species is at risk of extinction. 40% amphibians, 34% conifers, 33% coral reefs, 31% sharks and rays, 27% (selected) crustaceans, 25% mammals, 14% birds. Only 30% of all birds on the planet are wild, 70% of all birds are farmed. ~ International Union for Conservation of Species (IUCN) states in its published Red List of threatened species. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IUCN_Red_List Between 1970-2010 there have been these population losses; 39% of terrestrial species, 76% freshwater species and 39% marine species. (Wildlife) habitat destruction is caused by animal farming, which causes mass extinction. ~ World Wildlife Fund for Nature New estimates of the environmental cost of food. http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2018-06-01-new-estimates-environmental-cost-food “Envirocidal” Report explaining the Climate Breakdown caused by animal agriculture. https://www.viva.org.uk/envirocidal The joints of meat that do more damage than a long haul flight. https://www.monbiot.com/2015/12/22/sacrifice/ Food-miles and the relative climate impacts of food choices https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18546681 Meat and dairy companies to surpass oil industry as world’s biggest polluters ~ Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy & GRAIN ~ July 2018 https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/meat-dairy-industry-greenhouse-gas-emissions-fossil-fuels-oil-pollution-iatp-grain-a8451871.html The contribution of cattle urine and dung to nitrous oxide emissions https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6024564 IBPES Report about loss of natural life https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yd8l2v0u4jqptp3/AACpraYjOYWpTxAFv5H-2vrKa/1%20Global%20Assessment%20Summary%20for%20Policymakers?dl=0&preview=Summary+for+Policymakers+IPBES+Global+Assessment.pdf&subfolder_nav_tracking=1 Why We Are Better off Without Animal Manure https://thegreenvegans.com/why-we-are-better-off-without-animal-manure Assessing the efficiency of changes in land use for mitigating climate change https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0757-z.epdf Every meat eater on the planet is helping to fuel the Amazon forest fires https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/amazon-forest-fire-brazil-beef-meat-vegan-vegetarian-brazil-a9076236.html $1,000,000 a minute; the farming subsidies destroying the world. https://www.foodandlandusecoalition.org/global-report Superbug hotspots emerging in farms across globe – study https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6459/eaaw1944 Stockfree Organic farming is the greenest, most ecologically sustainable and carbon-neutral way of producing healthy food. How can Stockfree Organic systems help slow down climate change? They don’t rely on synthetic fertilisers and weedkillers, pesticides and fungicides, all of which consume fossil fuels in the manufacture, packaging and transport, releasing large quantities of CO2 and other airborne pollutants. ~ Stockfree Organic Services. http://stockfreeorganic.net Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. ~ The Meta Study from Oxford University and published in Science 2018 This study is based on 38,700 farms in 119 countries, covering 40 food products that represent 90% of global protein and calorie consumption.They looked at emissions from across the whole product lifecycle – including transportation and mitigation The study found transitioning to a plant-based society would: Release 3.1 billion hectares of land – a 76% reduction Release 19% of arable land (crops used to feed animals) Reduce GHG by 6.6b tonnes, or 49% (FACTOR IN REFORESTATION AND ITS 71% REDUCTION of GHGs) Reduce acidification by 50% Reduce eutrophication by 49% (animal sewage entering water – leads to algae to grow) Reduce water scarcity by 19% “Without meat and dairy, global farmland use could be reduced by more than 76% – an area equivalent to the US, China, EU and Australia combined – and still feed the world” “Meat, aquaculture, eggs, and dairy use 83% of the world’s farmland and con-tribute 18% of our calories.” “The lowest-impact aquaculture systems still exceed emissions of vegetable proteins.” “A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases but global acidification, eutrophication, land and water use” “This international research collaboration has revealed that the belief that grass-fed livestock are good for the environment may be misplaced.” “This report concludes that grass-fed livestock are not a climate solution. Grazing livestock are net contributors to the climate problem, as are all livestock.” “Rising animal production and consumption, what-ever the farming system and animal type, is causing damaging greenhouse gas release and contributing to changes in land use”. The author, Joseph Poore, adopted a vegan diet because of what he discovered. https://josephpoore.com/Science%20360%206392%20987%20-%20Accepted%20Manuscript.pdf Oxford University Study 2018 ~ J. Poore & T.Nemecek Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987 IPPC Report of August 2019 ~ IPCC approved and accepted Climate Change and Land https://www.ipcc.ch/report/srccl/ Seven Things to Know About the IPCC’s Special Report on Climate Change and Land https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/08/7-things-know-about-ipcc-special-report-land-and-climate This Land is the Only Land There is… (IPCC August 2019) https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/08/how-think-about-dire-new-ipcc-climate-report/595705/ We Must Change Food Production to Save the World (IPCC August 2019) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/03/ipcc-land-use-food-production-key-to-climate-crisis-leaked-report ___________________________________ The next nine or ten links are to articles about grass-fed, pasture farms, or are referred to as “regenerative” grazing. The Food Climate Research Network report throws cold water on claims that grass-fed beef benefits the environment: "Key findings include the observation that while grazing of grass-fed animals can boost the locking in of carbon in some locally specific circumstances, that effect is time-limited, reversible, and at the global level, substantially outweighed by the greenhouse gas emissions they generate. Grasslands simply cannot supply the global human population with the quantities of animal protein we currently eat, still less what we are anticipated to consume, without incurring significant expansion in overall grazing ruminant numbers – which would trigger catastrophic land use change and higher net greenhouse gases." This report concludes that grass-fed livestock are not a climate solution. Grazing livestock are net contributors to the climate problem, as are all livestock. “Rising animal production and consumption, what-ever the farming system and animal type, is causing damaging greenhouse gas release and contributing to changes in land use”. ~ from "Grazed and Confused? Ruminating on cattle, grazing systems, methane, nitrous oxide, the soil carbon sequestration question – and what it all means for greenhouse gas emissions" by Dr Tara Garnett of the Food Climate Research Network at the University of Oxford & Cécile Godde at Australia’s national science agency CSIRO and a team of international experts. “We already produce enough to feed the world. It’s overconsumption – especially of animal protein by the global middle class, inequality, waste and inadequate production/distribution systems – that stands in the way of enough food for everyone and space for wildlife. To feed the world in a way our one planet can sustain, we need to consume and produce food differently.” ~ Worldwide Fund for Nature, Appetite for Destruction https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/appetite-for-destruction Is grass-fed beef good or bad for the climate? ~ Oxford University http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2017-10-03-grass-fed-beef-good-or-bad-climate A 30-year study of grazing and carbon sequestration ~ On Pasture https://onpasture.com/2017/11/13/what-30-years-of-study-tell-us-about-grazing-and-carbon-sequestration Countering the false solution of regenerative grazing ~ Seed the Commons https://seedthecommons.org/a-call-to-counter-the-false-solution-of-regenerative-grazing/ Grazings impact http://www.futureoffood.ox.ac.uk/grazed-and-confused https://www.fcrn.org.uk/sites/default/files/project-files/fcrn_gnc_report.pdf Pasture meat isn’t green https://www.vegansociety.com/whats-new/blog/pasture-fed-meat-isn%E2%80%99t-green One Green Planet's article about how grass-fed beef isn’t helping https://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/eating-grass-fed-beef-isnt-helping-the-planet FISHING An estimated 2.3 trillion fish are killed each year. "Overfishing has led marine scientists to say that the threat faced by our marine ecosystem is much larger than any other environmental threat like increasing pollution." ~ Marine Science Today "Abandoned fishing tackle account for 46% of plastic in the ocean." ~ National Geographic "Scientists estimate that 650,000 whales dolphins and seals are killed every year by fishing vessels and that 40-50 million sharks are killed by lines and nets." ~ The Guardian 2014 “Over 90% of fish stocks are now fully exploited, overexploited, depleted or recovering from depletion” ~ Standing Committee on Agricultural Research 2015 "Unless humans act now, seafood may disappear by 2048, concludes the lead author of a new study that paints a grim picture for ocean and human health. According to the study, the loss of ocean biodiversity is accelerating, and 29 percent of the seafood species humans consume have already crashed." ~ John Roach, National Geographic 2006 www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2006/11/seafood-biodiversity _________________________ _________________________ |
