Why Is Meat Bad For Our Planet?
Some people may not believe or even wonder what eating meat has to do with our environment. According to the World Resources Institute, animal agriculture (in the aim to provide meat for consumption) is the fourth largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. This is what makes meat consumption brings unexpected bad impacts to our planet. Various studies have shown that at least there are several disgraceful impacts of the high demand for meat consumption.
1. Deforestation and forest fires
The growing world consumption of meat is leading to the destruction of the Brazilian rainforest nowadays. The industrial meat system needs a huge land to sustain. Forests, particularly in South America, are deliberately slashed and burned every year to graze cattle and grow enough crops to feed billions of farmed animals. According to Barbara Unmüssig, president of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, “Industrially produced meat is not only responsible for the precariousness of working conditions, but it also removes people from their lands, provokes deforestation, the use of pesticides and the loss of biodiversity — and it is one of the main causes of the climate crisis.”
2. Climate change
When forests are destroyed to produce meat, tonnes of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere and it will accelerate global warming. The fallen trees are often left to the forest or burned, creating further emissions. As we know that trees are essential for absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. If we cut them down, they can no longer help us in the fight against climate change.
3. Human rights abuses and land-grabbing
The Geraizeira, indigenous people and traditional communities in Brazil, are at the frontline protecting their land. An investigation by Greenpeace Brazil showed that security forces working for soya producer Agronegócio Estrondo harassed, detained, abducted and shot members of the traditional Geraizeira Communities. This is exacerbated by the support of President Bolsonaro and his government to encourage illegal loggers, miners and farmers occupying indigenous lands by rolling back historic regulations and trying to legalise land-grabbing.
4. Extinction of wildlife
Humans are directly and indirectly causing species to go extinct. By clearing forests, destroying habitats and using toxic pesticides to grow animal food, the industrial meat industry is contributing to the extinction of thousands of species. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, of the 28,000 species threatened with extinction, approximately 24,000 are threatened primarily from animal agriculture. They also classified Jaguars as ‘near threatened’ since they are dying out, having lost nearly 38% of their habitat in Brazil.
It may sound difficult and unusual at first, especially for people who are fond of eating meat. Hans-Otto Pörtner, an ecologist who works for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says, “We don’t want to tell people what to eat, but it would indeed be beneficial, for both climate and human health, if people in many rich countries consumed less meat.”
-Northern Ingo-
