If we are to have any chance of avoiding apocalyptic climate change and environmental devastation, we must not only stop burning fossil fuels as rapidly as possible, but ALSO stop chopping down rainforests that absorb and store excess carbon.
However, there's a problem with that.
Unless the mass of humanity radically changes what we eat — the way we produce and consume food — we will NEVER achieve any of those other goals.
If you need convincing, read this…
The Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has estimated that world meat production is expected to double by 2050. Given our current trajectory, this would require that we convert approximately 80% of existing forests and shrubland into land devoted to raising animals to produce meat, dairy, and eggs — a conversion that would be unsustainable and would have a devastating impact on the Earth’s climate. An additional 35 million km2 of land would be required to meet the growing demand for animal products, equating to roughly the combined area of Australia and Africa.
Although 83% of the world’s farmland is occupied by animal agriculture, this provides just 18% of the calories and 37% of the protein humans consume, and the majority of cereals and soy produced today are fed to farm animals. More people could be fed with fewer resources if the use of animals for food is reduced or eliminated. Furthermore, meat consumption contributes four times as much to global greenhouse gas emissions as a plant-based diet.
The immediate adoption of a plant-based diet on a global scale would have the potential to reduce demand for land by up to 76%, GHG emissions from food by 49%, and a reduction in freshwater withdrawals by 19%. Having more plant food available for humans can reduce world hunger and food insecurities, while preserving biodiversity and vital ecosystems. Further, a global shift to a fundamentally plant-based diet will reduce the rapidly rising economic burden of medicine and healthcare.
These are just a few brief excerpts from a long and persuasive journal article. Important reading!
LEARN MORE ➡️ https://academic.oup.com/oocc/article/5/1/kgae024/7942019?login=false
[#]Science #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Vegan
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