Animal Agriculture and the Environment

Key Harms

Global Warming

Deforestation: Animal Agriculture is the major contributor.

Livestock production is responsible for approximately 80% of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest (Macedo et al., 2012).

The expansion of grazing areas for livestock accounts for around 70% of deforestation globally (Morton et al., 2006).

Animal agriculture, particularly cattle farming, has led to the loss of an estimated 32 million acres of tropical rainforest each year (Ryschawy et al., 2019).

Deforestation for livestock production releases approximately 2.4 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually (Assunção et al., 2015).

The intensification of livestock farming has contributed to a 60-70% increase in deforestation rates in Latin America (Loboguerrero et al., 2019).

https://sentientmedia.org/how-does-agriculture-cause-deforestation

Supplemental Information

Expert Testimony

• World Watch Institute:
  • Said that “The human appetite for animal flesh is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening the human future—deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, social justice, the stabilization of communities and the spread of disease.“^[1] World Watch Magazine July-August 2004 via The Face on Your Plate: The Truth About Food, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson · 2010, 57, Google Books, Accessed 2022-06-20
• United Nations Environment Program (UNEP);
  • Called meat the “world’s most urgent problem,”^[2]UNEP Article 2018, “Tackling the world’s most urgent problem: meat,” Accessed 2022-05-21
  • Said that “our use of animals as a food-production technology has brought us to the verge of catastrophe,”^[3]UNEP Article 2018, “Tackling the world’s most urgent problem: meat,” Accessed 2022-05-21
  • Said that “a substantial reduction of [harmful environmental] impacts would only be possible with a substantial worldwide diet change, away from animal products.” ^[4]UNEP Analysis 2010, Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Consumption and Production Accessed 2022-05-20

Further Reading

• The Truth or Drought Website is an excellent source of cited facts covering the impact of animal agriculture on the environment.

Footnotes