Archive for the ‘Livestock’ tag
51% GHG by Livestock
Livestock and Climate Change
by Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang
Livestock and Climate Change: What if the key actors in climate change are…cows, pigs, and chickens?
The environmental impact of the lifecycle and supply chain of animals raised for food has been vastly underestimated, and in fact accounts for at least half of all human-caused greenhouse gases (GHGs), according to Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang, co-authors of “Livestock and Climate Change”.
A widely cited 2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Livestock’s Long Shadow, estimates that 18 percent of annual worldwide GHG emissions are attributable to cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, camels, pigs, and poultry. But recent analysis by Goodland and Anhang finds that livestock and their byproducts actually account for at least 32.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, or 51 percent of annual worldwide GHG emissions.
Read “Livestock and Climate Change,” World Watch Magazine [FREE PDF]
Ebook updated
PDF (ebook) - Please download and share! (right click and save as)
How Healthy is Your Diet?
How Healthy is Your Diet? (PDF, 962KB)
Fish for Health? - Get the Facts!
Fish for Health? - Get the Facts! (PDF, 748KB)
Mitigating Climate Change through Food Policy
Water Pollution
Water Pollution
1.3 billion tons of animal waste produced in the U.S.
Pollution strength up to 160 times greater than raw municipal waste.
Animal wastes contribute to large oceanic “dead zones,” which extended to nearly 7,903 sq. miles in the Gulf of Mexico during Summer of 2007.
In the U.S. alone, livestock is responsible for:
- 55% of erosion and sediment
- 37% of pesticide use
- 50% of antibiotic use
- 33% of nitrogen and phosphorus in freshwater
RESOURCES: America's Animal Factories How States Fail to Prevent Pollution from Livestock Wast (Natural Resources Defense Council) NOAA and Louisiana Scientists Predict Largest Gulf of Mexico “Dead Zone” on Record This Summer (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Livestock’s Long Shadow(executive summary, p.xxii) (UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 2007)