The elephant in the room: solving the climate crisis

By Varun Ravikumar

The human race is beginning to realise the dire con- sequences of our industrialisation: with the pollution of the ozone layer by greenhouse gases, we can expect rising sea-levels, extreme weather, the extinction of wildlife and even higher death rates among humans. The United Nations [1] compels us to act before it is too late. It is estimated that we have until 2030 to prevent a global warming of a further 1.5 degrees C. However, national governments are mostly refusing to make the necessary commitments. This article will discuss how a reduction in meat consumption is by far the most significant, most immediate way to reduce your household’s greenhouse emissions, more so than other difficult lifestyle choices, such as recycling or public transport usage. There are three main greenhouse gases involved in the process of animal husbandry. Let us consider them in turn.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Animal agriculture’s most important contribution to carbon emissions is as a result of the excessive deforestation of land to create space for grazing livestock, and to grow their high-energy feed. It is estimated that 45% of the world’s arable land is used for beef production [3], and with a growing population that is consuming more meat, even more space must be required. Hence, cattle rearing was responsible for 71% of the total deforestation in South America be- tween 1990 and 2005 [4]. It is estimated that an acre of rainforest is cleared every second.

Plants (trees, by virtue of their size, to a much greater extent) are responsible for the maintenance of the carbon cycle - the naturally occurring balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide. A large

Figure 1: Animal agriculture is responsible for at least 18% of the world’s greenhouse emissions, more than the com- bined exhaust from all transportation (13%) [2].

proportion of the carbon dioxide emitted by respiring and decompos- ing animals is used during the photosynthesis of plants, which in turn produce more oxygen. And so, the removal of these trees furthers the presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and ozone layer. In contrast, tofu, peas, nuts, and soy milk produce almost negligible volumes of CO2 (all less than 5kg per 100g of protein). They are also far more space- efficient; a plant-based world would require up to 3.1 bil lion hectares (76%) less farmland.

Figure 2: The annual flux of carbon dioxide between the Earth’s structures; the numbers represent the gigatons transferred.

Carbon dioxide is also released on an industry-level by the packaging, processing and transportation of slaughtered goods, in addition to the combustion of fossil fuels that power factory farms. These processes emit around 150 million tonnes of CO2 worldwide [2]. Hence, we arrive at the following figures in [5] (conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford), that the production of a mere 100g of beef can produce up to 30kg of CO2, 1 litre of of cow’s milk can produce up to 5kg and 100g of lamb or mutton can With all this space, we could plant significantly more trees, which would help restore the natural balance of the carbon cycle.

Methane (CH4)

Ruminant livestock (most notably of which are cattle) have a symbiotic relationship with microbes that live in their stomachs, known as methanogens. This means that in return for optimal living conditions, methanogens digest plant material ingested by the livestock in a process known as enteric fermentation, which produces the greenhouse gas methane as a by- product. This gas is released into the atmosphere whenever a cow belches or passes gas, and in a world with over 1.5 billion cows [6], this is incredibly problematic: cows emit over 150 billion gallons of methane globally in just one day [7].

Methane, also, is 25-100 times more destructive and has 86 times more global warming potential than CO2 in a 20-year time frame [8] (animal

agriculture is responsible for 37% [2] of methane emissions annually). This means that by reducing (or removing entirely) our consumption of most red meat or dairy, we would see a series of positive results.

Figure 3: A molecule of methane.

Nitrous Oxide (N2O) The worst offender as far as greenhouse gases produced by animal husbandry are concerned is nitrous oxide: livestock are responsible for 65% of all human- related emissions of the gas [2], and it has 296 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide, remaining in the atmosphere for up to 150 years. Nitrous Oxide is produced primarily by the interaction between denitrifying bacteria in soil and nitrogen-based fertilisers. These bacteria reduce nitrates in the fertiliser, releasing nitrogen gases into the atmosphere. In the case of animal farming, a lot of land is required to feed livestock; for example, cows consume over 130 billion imperial pounds of food daily [9], which explains the high incidence of fertilisers. Sometimes the nitrate-rich waste of the livestock themselves are used instead of synthetic fertilisers, which only furthers the rate of denitrification: every minute, 7 million imperial pounds of excrement are produced by livestock in the United States [10].

All in all, it is estimated that animal husbandry con- tributes to around 18% of global greenhouse emissions [2], more than even the combined exhaust from all transportation (currently around 13% by the same source). Some estimates, however, are less conservative, suggesting up to 51% [11]. Yet even beyond cli- mate change, animal agriculture is equally damaging to the world’s natural habitats: the 2014 documentary Cowspiracy claims that animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction and habitat destruction. What of the fact that we are growing enough food for 10 billion people [12]? What if all this excess grain could feed the starving and impoverished?

Any thinking person would now wonder why, in a society increasingly aware of the climate crisis, this issue is never discussed enough; why is it that we are always given advice about climate change that is incomplete? The simple answer is the greed of the over $1tn dollar industry, which,

for example, spends over $100mn lobbying the US Congress [13], has killed more than 1000 land activists in Brazil over the last 20 years [14] and recently pressured the United Nations to remove a tweet denouncing animal agriculture [15]. However, with the increase of high-quality academia about the issue, such as [5], the issue is finally coming to light.

How can you act? Hopefully you can now see the unsustainability of animal agriculture; to continue these practices would be akin to shooting our species (and all other earth- lings) in the foot. On the other hand, depending on where you live, [5] asserts that a plant-based diet can reduce your food greenhouse emissions by up to 73%. You can make a difference that is so much more significant than by, say, simply taking the bus or train to school. Therefore it is imperative now that you consider making the switch, or at least cutting down your household’s consumption of meat. At Trinity we should introduce a ‘Meat-Free Monday’ or begin to provide more appealing vegetarian and vegan options at the Boys’ Restaurant.Experts from the British Dietetic Association have confirmed that planned vegan diets can support healthy, energetic lifestyles [16]. There are increasing numbers of vegan athletes: Lewis Hamilton (a Formula One driver), Scott Jurek (an ultra-marathon runner), Carl Lewis (the legendary Olympic gold-medal winner), and many more. There are increasing innovations in food science which produce meat alternatives delivering similar tastes but are more eco-friendly; a notable example is Beyond Meat, which claims to require 99% less water, 93% less land and emits 90% fewer greenhouse gases [17]. Unfortunately, the decarbonisation of Britain will require two decades (the current goal is 2050) of effort and strong political will but switching to a plant-based diet requires mere hours of research. No longer do we need the fervour of radical protesters to participate in climate activism; a difference can be made from merely our plates.

References/Further Reading

[1] https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ [Accessed on 2

August 2020] [2] Steinfeld, H., Gerber, P., Wassenaar, T., Castel, V., Rosales, M., de Haan, C. (2006). ‘Livestock’s long shadow: environmental issues and options.’ Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. [Available at http://www.fao. org/3/ A0701E/a0701e.pdf] [3] Thorton, P., et al. (2011). ‘Livestock and climate change’. Livestock xchange, International Livestock Research Institute. [4] De Sy, V., Herold, M., et al. (2015). ‘Land use pat- terns and related carbon losses following deforestation in South America’. Environmental Research Letters, 10 (12). DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/10/12/124004 [5] Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2019). ‘Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and con- sumers’. Science, 360 (6392), pp. 987-992. DOI: 10.1126/science.aaq0216 [6] http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/?#data/ [Ac- cessed on 2 August 2020] [7] Miller, S. M., Wofsy, S. C., et al. (2013). ‘Anthro- pogenic emissions of methane in the United States’. National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/ pnas.1314392110 [8] Shindell, D. T., et al. (2009). ‘Improved Attri- bution of Climate Forcing to Emissions’. Science, 326 (5953), pp. 716-18. DOI: 10.1126/science. 1174760 [9] DiCaprio, L. (Producer), & Anderson, K. (Di- rector). (2014). ‘Cowspiracy’ [Motion Picture]. United States: A.U.M. Films. [10] https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/ nrcs/detail/ null/?cid=nrcs143_014211 [Ac- cessed on 2 August 2020]. [11] Goodland, R., & Anhang, J. (2009). ‘Livestock and climate change: what if the key actors in climate change [12] https://www.commondreams. org/views/2012/05/08/ we-already-grow-enough-food-10-billion-people-and-s [13] https://www.ewg.org/research/ lobbying-anti-labeling-groups-tops-100m [Accessed 2 August 2020] [14] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/ apr/08/ brazilian-murder-dorothy-stang [Accessed 2 August 2020] [15] https://www.abc.net.au/radio/ programs/nt-countryhour/ united-nations-deletes-absurd-meat-tweet/ 12508146 [16] https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/ html [Accessed 2 August 2020] [17] https://www.beyondmeat.com/about/