Environmental and Social Impact of the 'Livestock Revolution'ScienceDaily: Global meat production has tripled in the past three decades and could double its present level by 2050, according to a new report... The impact of this 'livestock revolution' is likely to have significant consequences for human health, the environment and the global economy...
Among the key findings in the report [Livestock in a Changing Landscape (Island Press)] are:
- More than 1.7 billion animals are used in livestock production worldwide and occupy more than one-fourth of the Earth's land.
- Production of animal feed consumes about one-third of total arable land.
- Livestock production accounts for approximately 40 percent of the global agricultural gross domestic product.
- The livestock sector, including feed production and transport, is responsible for about 18 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
Although about 1 billion poor people worldwide derive at least some part of their livelihood from domesticated animals, the rapid growth of commercialized industrial livestock has reduced employment opportunities... [and] displaced many small, rural producers...
Human health also is affected by pathogens and harmful substances transmitted by livestock.. Emerging diseases, such as highly pathogenic avian influenza, are closely linked to changes in the livestock production...
The livestock sector is a major environmental polluter... Much of the world's pastureland has been degraded by grazing or feed production... and many forests have been clear-cut to make way for additional farmland. Feed production also requires intensive use of water, fertilizer, pesticides and fossil fuels...
Animal waste is another serious concern. 'Because only a third of the nutrients fed to animals are absorbed, animal waste is a leading factor in the pollution of land water resources,'... the authors wrote... The beef, pork and poultry industries also emit large amounts of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases...
'So much of the problem comes down to the individual consumer,' said co-editor Fritz Schneider of the Swiss College of Agriculture... 'I am hopeful that as people learn more, they do change their behavior. If they are informed that they do have choices to help build a more sustainable and equitable world, they can make better choices.'
