The earth is being destroyed because humans eat a lot of meat

Here are 8 reasons why the earth is destroyed because of our meat-eating habit

1. Heat the planet

The world consumes about 230 million tons of animal meat every year - twice as large as 30 years ago. We often raise four types - chickens, cows, sheep and pigs - all of which require large amounts of food and water, release methane and other gases that warm the climate. They also produce mountains of organic waste that pollutes the environment, water sources .

The world consumes about 230 million tons of animal meat every year - twice as large as 30 years ago.

The authors of the report 'the long shadow of the herd' calculated not only the amount of methane emitted by the cow, but also the kind of gas emitted from their waste, the amount of fuel consumed during transport. meat to consumption points, electricity to preserve and preserve frozen meat, the amount of gas used in processing, energy consumption to cultivate land for livestock feed, and even fresh water is needed for herds cow. And the result is a greater number of total emissions of cars, airplanes and motorized vehicles combined.

Scientists from the World Bank have increased the number to 51% after including many other factors, such as the costs of producing the fertilizer needed to grow feed or metal to build ships. transporting cattle.

Accurate calculation of the impact of livestock on the environment is a mathematical nightmare. And whether or not it is great, even if it is only 5-10%, or up to 50% of the global warming of gas, the livestock sector is still the most destructive type of activity.

2. Consuming too much land

The projected 3 billion population increase, a doubling of global meat consumption over the next 40 years is leading us to a serious nutritional crisis. Food production occupies an increasingly large area on Earth. The need of vegetarian people needs much smaller space than meat-eaters. An average eight-person vegetarian family in Bangladesh needs only 1 hectare of cultivated land, while an American consumes an average of 120 kilograms of meat per year and needs 20 hectares of land!

Nearly 30% of the Earth's freeze areas are used to feed cows or to grow grass as food for them. While cows eat most of their farming products, on the planet every day, billions of hungry people eat! Scientists at Corrnell University (USA) have calculated that in 1997 the area of ​​vegetables, wheat, fruits, potatoes and soybeans across the United States accounted for only 13 million hectares. While the area of ​​cow breeding is up to 302 million hectares. The problem lies in the fact that the 'processing' of food into mass-produced livestock products is too low. While to produce 1 kg of meat, poultry only needs 3.4 kg of feed on average, but to have 1 kg of pork, it takes 8.4 kg of feed.

Scientists also calculate, if using Western cereals to raise cattle to prepare human food, at least it is possible to feed humanity twice as large as it is today.

Livestock is currently raised in the only European countries for slaughtering meat in the shortest possible time. While in poor territories, especially in arid regions, horned animals play a central part of life and culture, often a source of life and wealth for millions of grazing people. . The nomadic year-round nomadic animal movement became the foundation of many African countries' economies. According to the International Institute of Environment and Development , this form of animal feeding and hoof is more environmentally friendly and more productive than the industrial breeding method in Australia or the US.

3. Consuming too much fresh water

When we eat beef steak or fried chicken, we also use the small amount of water that animals used to survive. Prof. John Robbin calculated, to produce 1 kg of potatoes, wheat, corn and rice needs 120, 216, 336 and 450 liters, respectively. However, to produce 1kg of beef, it takes more than 18,000 liters of water. To have a liter of cow's milk - need 1,000 liters of fresh water.

Pigs are also the type of animal that consumes the most water. A medium-sized farm (80,000 pigs) consumes 337.5 million liters of water each year in the United States. Large farms with a million-size pig herd use the same amount of water as a spectrum.

In fact, the livestock industry currently uses up to 70% of freshwater reserves for people. Therefore, the demand for increased meat consumption and fresh water for production and living needs will be exhausted. Rich countries, but lack of fresh water such as Saudi Arabia, Libya, countries in Persja or South Africa claim that food production is needed in poorer countries, to protect their own freshwater reserves. me That's why they bought or rented millions of hectares of land in Ethiopia and many other countries. In this way they save fresh water in the country.

Deforestation on a global scale over 30 years is not intended for logging, but mainly for cattle, soybean and palm oil cultivation.

In the report 'What does our food live on?' His latest, environmental organization Friends of the Earth , estimates that every year the world destroys about 6 million hectares of forest (equivalent to the area of ​​Lithuania) for the purpose of growing crops and livestock.

4. Polluting the land

The agriculture and livestock industries on the industrial scale hold a dominant position in Western countries. A single farm can produce the same amount of waste as a city. On average, to provide one kilogram of beef for us to eat, the cow emits at least 40kg of solid waste. If thousands of cows feed on limited areas, the effect will be terrible. Animal manure is often dumped into giant tanks - buildings often break or leak, polluting groundwater reserves and rivers by nitrogen, fosfo and other toxic substances.

Every year tens of thousands of kilometers of rivers in the US, Europe and Asia are polluted by livestock. Only a cracked tank leaked millions of liters of waste from a big pig farm in North Carolina (USA) in 1995 killed millions of fish stocks and paralyzed shrimp farms with an area of ​​364 thousand hectares of sea surface. .

5. Pollution of the Ocean

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill in mid-2010 is not the only environmental disaster in this territory. For a long time, 13,000-20,000 square kilometers of the sea surface and estuary of Mississippi were considered "dead zones" for animal manure, nitrogen elements, chemical fertilizers and other toxic substances released from farms. breed. Pollutants have taken up all the other body's oxygen source.

The Mississippi estuary has been considered a "dead zone" for animal manure and toxic things
Other emissions from livestock farms.

From the Nordic coast to the coast of Southeast Asia, scientists have identified 400 dead sea areas with an area of ​​1,000-70,000 km ² . Livestock is not the only culprit, but it is certainly one of the most serious causes.

6. Pollution of the atmosphere

Everyone who lives near a pig farm knows how uncomfortable the atmosphere is. In addition to greenhouse gases such as methane or carbon dioxide, cows and pigs also release many other harmful gases. In the United States, cattle and cereal farming make animal feed responsible for 37% of all pesticides used in the country, over 50% of antibiotics produced in the US, 1/3 of nitrogen and fosfo discharges into water sources. Cattle farms produce nearly two-thirds of the ammonia synthesized (a major factor in acid rain).

7. Poisoning people

Animal waste cures many pathogens, including salmonella, E. coli bacteria and many other pathogens that can penetrate the human body. Every year, people mix tons of antibiotics into animal feed - a factor that causes many types of antibiotic greasy bacteria, which makes it difficult to treat human diseases.

8. Contributing to depleting world oil reserves

The livestock industry in Western countries is based on oil. So in 2008, when fuel prices abruptly jumped, in 23 countries there was violence because of rising prices of food items. According to some studies in the US, the livestock industry has consumed one-third of the country's annual mineral resources.