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Climate impact
How Animal Agriculture Impacts our Climate
~Michael B. Eisen & Patrick O. Brown (Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley).
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Animal agriculture is a major contributor to many drivers of climate change. Clearing land for farmed animals is the major cause of deforestation in Australia, and deforestation is the main driver of habitat loss which in turn leads to species extinctions. Carbon released from cleared forests adds to the warming of our environment, as does the vast quantities of greenhouse gases created by farmed animals. Producing animal products requires an incredible amount of land and water and leads to water pollution which exacerbates ocean dead zones.
Fast Facts
Greenhouse Gases
A RAPIDLY WARMING WORLD
Today, most people know that the increasing amount of carbon dioxide and methane gas released into the environment leads to global warming. These gases, known collectively as greenhouse gases (GHG), have a range of sources.
Carbon enters the atmosphere when fossil fuels (like coal) are burnt, but also through land clearing, where the carbon previously captured by trees and plants is released back into the environment. Methane gases come primarily from the gas and manure produced by farmed animals.
In 2018, Queensland generated the most agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in Australia. 75% (15.9 Metric tonnes of gas emissions) was due to methane emissions from enteric fermentation in ruminant animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats. Cattle raised for beef were responsible for 97% or 15.5 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
Measuring the impact of each source of climate-warming gases is complicated, as Carbon dioxide and Methane have different life spans in the environment and different capacities for producing heat within the atmosphere. Methane is more than 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere, but it only stays in the environment for around 12 years, vs 100 for carbon dioxide. This can and has caused great confusion, as attempts to compare the gas's impacts using simple formulas effectively compare apples with oranges.
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Models predict that Earth will warm between 2 and 6 degrees Celsius over the next century. The Earth's temperature has always changed; however, before now, it has been an incredibly gradual process; during the past two million years, it has taken about 5,000 years to warm 5 degrees. Even if we reduce our emissions drastically today, the atmosphere will continue to warm because of greenhouse gases released yesterday - the time to act cannot come soon enough.
Complex climate models account for carbon dioxide and methane's different lifespans and warming capacities. They should be referred to when ascertaining the most effective way to take action. Based on a complex Climate model created by the University of California and Stanford researchers, phasing out animal agriculture over the next 15 years would have the same effect as a 68% reduction of carbon dioxide emissions through the year 2100.
Deforestation
DRIVING HABITAT DESTRUCTION AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Deforestation refers to the intentional clearing or thinning of trees and forests. It is also a leading cause of climate change.
In the five years leading up to 2020, 1.6 million hectares of Australian forested land were cleared for livestock production. This accounts for 79% of all land cleared in this period while, for comparison, crop production was responsible for only 4% of land clearing. All other activities contributing to deforestation, from timber plantations to mining to residential infrastructure, amounted to 17% when combined.
The State of the Environment report, released in 2022, clearly shows the animal agriculture industry is a primary driver of deforestation, leading to critical habitat loss for Australian animals, including our beloved koalas.
But how do land clearing and deforestation impact our climate? When deforestation occurs, most of the carbon stored by trees is released back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, contributing to atmospheric warming and the changing climate.
Australia ranks 5th in the world for the highest deforestation rates, and is the only developed nation in the top ten countries listed. In Australia, beef cattle farms are responsible for almost 75% of all deforestation.
World Wildlife Fund Australia claims that Eastern Australia ranks alongside the Amazon, Borneo, Congo Basin and other threatened tropical regions for the extent of forest at risk.
Biodiversity loss
DRIVING THE SIXTH MASS EXTINCTION
WWF defines biodiversity as:
"Biodiversity is the collection of all the different types of life found in any one area. It is the trees and grass that grow there, the animals that call them home and even the microorganisms, like bacteria, that live on the plants and animals. Biodiversity is all these things living together to create an ecosystem, which allows life to thrive. And every part of it is essential."
In an ecosystem, everything is connected. Because of this, changes to any element impact everything else. Climate change has resulted in more frequent extreme weather and natural disasters, from drought, floods, bushfires and storms. Climate change also increases ocean acidification, creating rising sea levels and warming the atmosphere. All of these things impact ecosystems and can have a devastating impact on biodiversity.
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According to a study published in Science of the Total Environment, “Biodiversity conservation: The key is reducing meat consumption:”
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“The consumption of animal-sourced food products by humans is one of the most powerful negative forces affecting the conservation of terrestrial ecosystems and biological diversity. Livestock production is the single largest driver of habitat loss, and both livestock and feedstock production are increasing in developing tropical countries where the majority of biological diversity resides. Livestock production is also a leading cause of climate change, soil loss, water and nutrient pollution, and decreases of apex predators and wild herbivores, compounding pressures on ecosystems and biodiversity.”
Blue Planet
OCEANIC DEADZONES IMPACT ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Although most people think of rainforests as the lungs of the earth, the reality is that our oceans are vital for creating oxygen and storing carbon. In fact, the ocean produces between 50 and 80% of oxygen and consumes more than 25% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) of the planet. Ocean dead zones threaten more than those living within them.
Nutrient run-off from animal agriculture significantly contributes to oxygen depletion in coastal waters, driving the over-enrichment of waters with nutrients. Excess nutrients from the waste of farmed animals leach into waterways. Overabundant nutrients can lead to an overgrowth of algae leading to algal blooms that contain dangerous levels of toxins. When oxygen levels in a part of the ocean drop extremely low, the area becomes uninhabitable, and entire ecosystems die, creating an ocean-dead zone. As of 2022, scientists have identified over 500 ocean dead zones worldwide. One dead zone, 60,000 square kilometres devoid of oxygen and life, has been discovered in the Indian Ocean to the northwest of Australia.
Ocean dead zones can sometimes form naturally, but the effects of climate change and animal agriculture cause the most. These include the waste from farmed animals; and pollution from commercial fertilisers and pesticides used to produce food for these animals. Animal agriculture is also a significant driver of climate change. This element adds to the creation of oceanic dead zones. Dead zones in our oceans are expected to increase in size and number as climate change intensifies.
