Are you wondering that if we reduce meat or going on a vegan diet that can help save the forest or not? The answer is yes. In developed countries (e.g., the US, UK, Canada, and Australia), people have started to consume more plant-based foods. The percentage of vegetarians has also increased significantly, and most people eat for the environment.
Deforestation because of Animal Husbandry
Although forest wildfires have occurred long and often, the Amazon rainforest wildfire in 2019 with 78,383 fires, an increase of 88% over the same period in 2018, is the siren for the Earth's ecosystem. The cause of wildfire in the Amazon rainforest are mainly due to deforestation by the people. There are four main reasons for deforestation:
· Taking land for cattle-ranching
· Taking palm oil
· Getting the soil to grow plants for cattle-ranching
· Timber
Two of the four reasons are related to raising animals for meat.
Scientists are concerned that if deforestation in the Amazon continues, it could push to a tipping point. The entire region will enter a transformation from the heated forest, savanna forest (grass, shrubs, and very few large trees).
Brazilian climate scientist Carlos Nobre believes that as many as 15-17% of the entire Amazon forest has been destroyed. At first, scientists thought that the tipping point would occur when the ratio was 40%.
However, the temperature in the Amazon region and the number of wildfires has increased. Therefore, Nobre experts estimate the tipping point could occur when the deforestation rate of Amazon is 20-25%.
And when the worst scenario happens, about 20 billion tons of carbon dioxide will be released into the air, according to Nobre, making it difficult for Mankind to maintain global warming levels within the magnetic limit. 1,5 - 2 degrees Celsius, a threshold to avoid the adverse effects of climate change.
Animal husbandry uses a lot of water for domestic use
Water is the precious resource our Earth gave to us. The clean water we have for drinking and daily activities is even more valuable. PETA - a large international organization specializing in animal protection, said it takes 9000 liters of water to produce only half a kilogram of meat.
Source: https://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-21182059-cattle-meadow-drinking-water-trough-handheld-camera
More specifically, we charge more than 15,400 m3 of water for a ton of beef, approximately 10,000 m3 of water for a ton of lamb, nearly 6000 m3 of water for a ton of pork, more than 4,300 m3 of water for a ton of chicken. Meanwhile, it takes only 130 - 1,200 m3 of water to produce every ton of plants such as nuts, beans, cereals, vegetables, tubers, fruits, etc.
Like animals, plants also require inputs from the environment to grow but less than animals. In today's agricultural system, we plant crops to feed animals, requiring all the resources and inputs: soil, water, fossil fuels, pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers to create evolution
According to Environmental Protection, waste from factories and animal farms is the most significant cause of water pollution, both fresh and saltwater. Not only polluting seawater, rivers, streams, and lakes, chemicals, and pollutants will also seep into the ground and contaminate groundwater. These chemicals come from soaps, detergents, growth medications, and fertilizers for agricultural products for animals. Water pollution from animal waste can also deplete oxygen in the tank and kill fish.
Emissions from animal husbandry
Springmann's research shows that the production of meat-based products generates the majority of food-related greenhouse gas emissions, up to 78% of the total agricultural emissions.
He said that beef produces 100 times emissions-intensive more than legumes. This is because a cow needs to consume 10 kg of feed per day, usually from grain, to gain 1 kg of body weight, and that feed will need water, soil, and fertilizer input for growing up. Cows also emit about ten times more greenhouse gases per kilogram of meat than pigs and chickens, which emit ten times more emissions than legumes.
We raise animals and take care of them for life, while they produce methane that is harmful to the atmosphere. Methane remains in the atmosphere on average for about a decade, much less than CO2. However, methane is 28-36 times more toxic than CO2. At the same time, they absorb more heat, and in the last 20 years, they have a greenhouse effect 86 times more CO2.
By adopting a vegetarian diet, we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by food systems by more than half, according to Nature's study.
Legumes like lentils and peas are the most sustainable protein source on the planet. They need tiny amounts of water to grow. They can grow in dry, harsh climates. And they act as a natural fertilizer, capturing nitrogen from the air and fixing it in the soil. Therefore, there is less need for synthetic fertilizers. These are the types of protein sources we need to rely on more often than meat.
Reduce medical emissions to the environment
Scientists claim that adopting a vegan diet will help people improve our health and reduce the amount of medical waste into the environment. A vegan diet helps limit the risk of cancer. It also can reduce the risk of hypertension, heart attack, avoid stroke, limit diabetes, fight obesity, and lower blood fat. However, this information is not widely known because of the health sector to create more revenue from the treatment rather than prevention.
Final word
Many people still think that wildfires occurred in Brazil; the ice-melting ice happened in the Arctic. Even though they know vegetarian is good for their health and environment, they still don't do it. Many people think that vegetarianism is not as ethical as meat, but they have changed their mind after enjoying properly processed vegetarian food. All you and I can do now is to encourage our friends and relatives to reduce meat in our meal, then start trying to adopt a vegan diet for a month. We can do it if we think about future generations.
Act for the future of our children! Be vegetarian for public health, for the health of mother nature.
Work cited:
Butler, Rhett A. "Amazon Destruction." Mongabay, Mongabay, 4 Feb. 2020, rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_destruction.html.
Person. "Forest Fire in the Amazon Rainforest." ArcGIS StoryMaps, Esri, 29 Nov. 2019, storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/9ca067092f8b47f68a2bdfe1d36bf72a.
Fabrique [merken, design & interactie]. "Water Footprint of Crop and Animal Products: a Comparison." Home, waterfootprint.org/en/water-footprint/product-water-footprint/water-footprint-crop-and-animal-products/.
"Forest Harvesting." Forest Harvesting | The Canadian Encyclopedia, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/forest-harvesting.
Drayer, Lisa. "How Your Diet Could Help Combat Climate Change in 2019." CNN, Cable News Network, 2 Jan. 2019, edition.cnn.com/2018/10/18/health/plant-based-diet-climate-change-food-drayer/index.html.
Reynolds, Matt. "How Does Going Vegan Help Save the Planet? Here Are the Facts." WIRED UK, WIRED UK, 8 Sept. 2019, www.wired.co.uk/article/vegan-diet-environmental-carbon-impact.
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