Resources

Evidence for animal agriculture's role in climate change.

• Animal agriculture is responsible for as much as 51% of man-made GHG emissions.
  • Livestock and Climate Change
  • Citations and responses to criticism of "Livestock and Climate Change"
• Evidence for the negative impact of animal agriculture had been mounting for years.
  • Chronological bibliography of the link between animal agriculture and environmental degradation
• Deforestation removes carbon sinks as well as causes greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when forests are burned to make room for grazing animals or growing feed for them.
  • Slaughtering the Amazon
• Reforestation that goes along with reduction in meat consumption would prevent the 2-degree rise in global temperatures considered the safe threshold.
  • Slash Meat Consumption to Save the World (Cited Study: Future carbon dioxide removal via biomass energy constrained by agricultural efficiency and dietary trends)
• Growing prosperity citizens of BRIC countries, particularly China and India, are adopting a more western lifestyle, including rise in animal-based foods, putting further stresses on the climate.
  • Meat eaters must cut consumption to forestall climate change (Cited Study: Representative concentration pathways and mitigation scenarios for nitrous oxide)
• Greatly reducing, or better yet, eliminating animal products from our diet is the single best and more immediate thing we can do to fight climate change.
  • Meat-eater's Guide to Climate Change + Heath
• Pasture raised animals is not the solution as they emit more GHGs due to their longer life spans and require vast amounts of land and water resources.
  • Grass-fed beef is not more eco-friendly than factory-farmed cows
• Industrial animal agriculture is one of the largest polluters of land and fresh water resources.
  • Pew Environmental Initiatives