rainforest environmental threats
Forget the hybrid-Cut your carbon footprint by eating meat!
"It's one of the two or three largest contributors to the most serious problems environment, at all scales from local to global. "That's what a United Nations report concluded in 2006 when assessing the consumption of meat worldwide.
In North America, we love our meat, whether it's a lazy summer barbecue or a regular meat and potato flour. But if you're looking for a high impact idea of green living, you should consider eating less meat, because it can have a major impact on your carbon footprint (for the good!) that the change of a gas blast consumption of a hybrid car.
As the largest environmental threat of our time, climate change is that we can not ignore, and eating habits have an impact on this problem without equal in almost all other sources of emissions of greenhouse gases.
Climate change, as you've probably heard, is a serious environmental problem with many implications, and humans are causing the problem. If you do not stop climate change, could face devastating consequences:
- Air pollution, warmer than the mean climate and extreme weather events will adversely affect human health and could accelerate the spread of vector-borne diseases.
- An increase in droughts, floods and severe storms will lead to losses crop and shortages in supplies of fresh water.
- Glaciers are melting faster, causing the sea level rise that will in the loss of land and displacement of millions of people.
- Temperatures increase faster than plants and animals can adapt, causing many species to extinction.
These are the worst possible scenarios, but they are real, and their diet can be part of problem.
How to eat less meat to curb climate change
Of all the changes of green living could make in your life, eat less meat (and dairy) can have the most bang for your buck, is more effective than buying local food, organic food or driving a hybrid car. But why is this? Let me explain:
- Deforestation: The breeding of animals for meat in the results of leveling huge swaths of forests worldwide. It is estimated that 55 acres of forest is required to produce a meal of meat protein (John Robbins, author of The Food Revolution). Trees are major carbon sinks (not to mention its many other environmental benefits) so logging reduces the planet's capacity to absorb carbon dioxide.
- Agricultural emissions of greenhouse gases: Eighty percent of all grain products grown in the U.S. are used to feed livestock. Conventional methods of agriculture involves large doses of petroleum chemicals (fertilizers and pesticides), and the operation of heavy machinery that burns a proportionately large amount of fuel emitting a large amount of carbon dioxide.
- Enteric fermentation: As ruminant animals (cows, sheep, goats and buffalo), of course, digest food, produce a potent greenhouse gas, methane, which is over 20 times more effective at trapping heat in our atmosphere the carbon dioxide. According to the United Nations Organization and Agriculture Organization, eating meat is responsible for 37% methane, 9% of all carbon dioxide and 65% nitrous oxide, all of which are greenhouse gases.
Of course, as hybrid cars target = "_blank" organic foods> and happily cheer them on. But a cheaper and more effective to live a green lifestyle and reduce their emissions greenhouse gas is simply cut meat from your diet for at least one day a week. This would be like driving your car 1,000 miles less each year. And remember: not only are vegetarian target = "_blank" organic food recipes> creative and delicious, they are healthier than meals based on meat, too!
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Environmental groups call to protect the forest Clark BC act quickly enough to guide conservation efforts, environmental groups say
