PSDA

Submitted by
SHRESTH
Roll No./Enrollment No./Rank 10282
Semester 1
Section D

Vivekananda School of Law and Legal Studies

VIVEKANANDA INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
Pitampura, Delhi-110034
2021

ANIMAL AGRICULTURE AND

GLOBAL WARMING
 ABSTRACT:
Animal agriculture is a major producer of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to 14% of
global emissions, roughly the same size as the transport sector. Global meat consumption is
expected to increase, which will increase the negative impact of animal agriculture on the
environment. Public awareness of the link between animal food consumption and climate
change is low; this could be one of the many obstacles to more effective interventions to
reduce meat consumption in Western diets, which has been proposed by many research
institutes. This study analyzes the attention paid by elite UK and US media to the role of
animal agriculture in climate change and the roles and responsibilities of different parties in
tackling the problem, from 2006 to 2018. The analysis the quantitative content of the media
shows that the volume of coverage remained low during this period and that when the issue
was raised,1 the responsibility of consumers was raised more than that of governments or
large farms. Likewise, a range of options related to personal dietary changes were much more
prominent in the media discussion of solutions than government policies, reform of farming
practices, or the accountability of major feed companies for their shows.
The farm animal production sector is the single largest anthropogenic user of land,
contributing to soil degradation, dwindling water supplies, and air pollution. The breadth of
this sector ‘s impacts has been largely underappreciated. Meat, egg, and milk production are
not narrowly focused on the rearing and slaughtering of farm animals. The animal agriculture
sector also encompasses feed grain production which requires substantial water, energy, and
chemical inputs, as well as energy expenditures to transport feed, live animals, and animal
products. All of this comes at a substantial cost to the environment. One of animal agriculture
‘s greatest environmental impacts is its contribution to global warming and climate change.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), the
animal agriculture sector is responsible for approximately 18%, or nearly one-fifth, of
human-induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In nearly every step of meat, egg, and milk
production, climate-changing gases are released into the atmosphere, potentially disrupting
weather, temperature, and ecosystem health. Mitigating this serious problem requires
immediate and far-reaching changes in current animal agriculture practices and consumption
patterns.

1
Steinfeld, H., n.d. Livestock's long shadow: environmental issues and options/ Henning
Steinfeld ( etal ), Rome. Rome: FAO, 2006.
GLOBAL WARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE:
The conversion of forests to farmland and cattle ranches is a major cause of deforestation.
It is made to meet the growing demand for food. Did you know that an acre or two of
tropical rainforests are cleared every second for livestock and agriculture? Forests are the
natural habitat of more than 70 percent of the world's plant and animal species. Many
animal and plant species are disappearing or are disappearing due to deforestation. The
rapid rate at which trees are felled can harm communities that depend on forests for their
livelihoods. Another major concern relates to greenhouse gas emissions. Livestock are the
source of 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions that are very harmful to the
environment. Forests help reduce the risk of sudden climate change and mitigate the
impact of natural disasters. Water is another natural resource that is quickly depleted. Did
you know that 70% of our planet is made up of water, but only 2.5% of fresh water?
About 92 percent of fresh water is used for agricultural purposes and 1/3 of this water is
used for animal husbandry and production. Agriculture creates a huge carbon footprint
and has a very high global warming potential. So, we sit back and wait for the whole
system to collapse? Of course not. We can start restoring the forest landscape that can
help reverse part of deforestation. The process includes multiple activities such as
agroforestry for erosion control and forest regeneration by natural means. Reducing your
intake of dairy products, meat and eggs and going vegan is a great option: it will help you
reduce your carbon footprint and reduce the negative effects of your diet on the
environment. In fact, having less or no fat can also lower your risk for many diseases,
including heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and several types of cancer. Check out this fact
sheet if you want to learn more about the environmental impact of farming and how to
deal with it.

Animal agriculture puts a heavy strain on many of the Earth’s finite land, water and energy
resources. In order to accommodate the 70 billion animal raised annually for human
consumption, a third of the planet ice free land surface2, as well as nearly sixteen percent of
global fresh water,3 is devoted to growing livestock. Furthermore, a third of worldwide grain
production4 is used to feed livestock. By 2050, consumption of meat and dairy products is
expected to rise 76% and 64% respectively5 which will increase the resource burden from the
industry. Cattle are by far the biggest source of emissions from animal agriculture, with one
recent study showing6 that in an average American diet, beef consumption creates 1,984
2
Environmental Health Perspectives. 2022. Global Farm Animal Production and Global Warming:
Impacting and Mitigating Climate Change | Environmental Health Perspectives | Vol. 116, No. 5. [online]
Available at: <https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/ehp.11034#b14-ehp0116-000578> [Accessed
10 January 2022].
3
Connolly, K. "Pill stops cow burps and helps save the planet." Guardian (London, England) 23 (2007).
4
Steinfeld, H., n.d. Livestock's long shadow: environmental issues and options/ Henning
Steinfeld ( etal ), Rome. Rome: FAO, 2006.
5
Herrero, M., Henderson, B. and Havlík, P., 2022. Greenhouse gas mitigation potentials in the livestock
sector.
6
Sutherly, B. "Ohio farms planning to use cows, chickens to generate energy." Dayton Daily News (Dayton,
OH) 22 (2007).
pounds of CO2e annually. Replacing beef with plants would reduce that figure 96 percent,
bringing it down to just 73 pounds of CO2e.

Plus, eating too much meat and dairy makes us sick, dramatically increasing the risk of heart
disease7, type 2 diabetes, several major cancers (especially of the breast, liver, and prostate),
and obesity. Diets that are optimal for human health vary according to David Katz of the
Center for Prevention Research at Yale University, "but they all consist primarily of
wholesome, healthy plant foods." So what's going on? Why can't we see the forest for the
bacon? The truth can be hard to swallow: we just need less meat and dairy and more plant
options in our food system if we are to meet our climate goals.

Impacts of increased herds and intensified production

According to FAOSTAT (FAO 2008)8, globally, around 56 billion land animals are raised
and slaughtered for human consumption each year and stocks livestock numbers will double
by 2050, with most of the increases occurring in the developing world 9. As the number of
farm animals raised for meat, eggs and dairy increases, their GHG emissions also increase.
GHG emissions from livestock is intrinsically linked to herd size as livestock are directly or
indirectly the source of emissions.10 Since the 1940s, for example, the increase in the farm
animal population, especially on large confined farms, has dramatically increased methane
emissions from animals and their manure. In recent decades, an increasing number of animals
have been raised in intensive production systems where chickens, pigs, turkeys and other
animals are confined in cages, crates, pens, stalls and support structures. growth similar to
warehouses. These production systems lack environmental stimuli, adequate space, or the
means by which to experience most natural behaviors. Moreover, as these industrialized and
'landless' structures tend to produce more manure than can be used as fertilizer on
neighboring cropland, the manure is instead' distributed to a small land mass. local causing
accumulation of soil and runoff. phosphorus, nitrogen and other pollutants” Although
extensive ranching or grazing methods remain the norm in Africa and parts of Asia, the trend
in Latin America and Asia is increasingly to favor intensive production systems rather than
more sustainable practices that respect animal welfare a 2007 report describing GHG
emissions from agriculture, Confining more animals indoors and further segregating
production operations from agricultural land will only exacerbate the environmental problems
already posed by this sector, which the FAO has deemed "one of the two or three main

7
Bhatti, S., Jones, B., Uppalapati, S. and Kristiansen, S., 2021. Major Media Outlets and Climate Change
Action: Comparing US Media Coverage of the Green New Deal. Environmental Communication, pp.1-22.
8
Silverstein, K. "The appeal of animal waste." EnergyBiz Insider 10 (2007).
9
the Guardian. 2022. Diets high in meat, eggs and dairy could be as harmful to health as smoking. [online]
Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/mar/04/animal-protein-diets-smoking-
meat-eggs-dairy> [Accessed 10 January 2022].
10
Steinfeld, H., n.d. Livestock's long shadow: environmental issues and options/ Henning
Steinfeld ( etal ), Rome. Rome: FAO, 2006.
contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at any scale, from the local to the
global"

CO2 emissions from animal agriculture

Considered the most important GHG, CO2 has the greatest direct warming impact on global
temperature due to the volume of its emissions. and anthropogenic impacts on the climate
over the past 250 years, the most significant due to increased CO2 concentrations attributed
to fossil fuel combustion and deforestation (Bierbaum et al. 2007). The animal agriculture
sector accounts for around 9% of total CO2 emissions, which are mainly the result of the
production of fertilizers for fodder crops, energy expenditure on the farm, transport of feed,
processing and transport of animal products and land use changes (Steinfeld et al. 2006).
Burning fossil fuels to produce fertilizer for forage crops can emit 41 million tonnes of CO2
per year (Steinfeld et al. 2006). Large amounts of artificial nitrogen fertilizers are used to
produce feed for farm animals, which is mainly made up of corn and soybeans.Most of these
fertilizers are produced in factories that depend on fossil fuels. 11 The HaberBosch process,
which produces ammonia to create artificial nitrogen fertilizers, is used to produce 100
million tonnes of fertilizer for forage crops per year 12. 90 million additional tonnes of CO2
per year can be emitted by fossil fuels used for intensive containment operations The energy
uses of these industrial plants differ significantly from those of small-scale, extensive or
pastoral farms. Although much of the energy used for intensive containment operations is for
heating, cooling and ventilation systems, more than half is spent on the production of fodder
crops, especially for the production of seeds, herbicides and pesticides, as well as fossil fuels.
use agricultural machinery in forage crop production. According to FAO estimates, CO2
emissions from the processing of farm animals' amount to several tens of millions of tonnes
per year the amount of fossil fuels burned varies depending on the species and type of animal
product. For example, processing 1 kg of beef requires 4.37 megajoules (MJ), or 1.21
kilowatt-hours, and processing a dozen eggs requires 6 MJ, or 1.66 kilowatt-hours. The
same 1 kg of beef can produce GHGs equivalent to 36.4 kg of CO2, with almost 13 with
almost all of the energy consumed attributed to the production and transportation of food
(Ogino et al. 2007). About 0.8 million tonnes of CO2 are emitted each year during the
transport of feed and animal products to the places where they will be consumed 14. Farm
animals and animal production facilities cover one-third of the earth's land surface, using
more than two-thirds of all available agricultural land, including land used for growing fodder
11
Steinfeld, H., n.d. Livestock's long shadow: environmental issues and options/ Henning
Steinfeld ( etal ), Rome. Rome: FAO, 2006.
12
Eshel, G., Shepon, A. and Noor, E., 2022. Environmentally Optimal, Nutritionally Aware Beef
Replacement Plant-Based Diets.
13
Iopscience.iop.org. 2022. ShieldSquare Captcha. [online] Available at:
<https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/8/4/044044/meta;jsessionid=5BD026EFAA2299
0E387DC2D579E5DC19.ip-10-40-1-98> [Accessed 10 January 2022].
14
Waterfootprint.org. 2022. [online] Available at:
<https://waterfootprint.org/media/downloads/Report-48-WaterFootprint-AnimalProducts-Vol1.pdf>
[Accessed 10 January 2022].
crops. Deforestation, soil degradation, soil cultivation and desertification are responsible for
CO2 emissions from land use by the livestock sector. Animal agriculture is an important
catalyst for the conversion of forested areas to pasture or agricultural land for food
production, which can emit 2.4 billion tonnes of CO2 per year due to deforestation 15. This
sector has particularly devastated Latin America, the region with the greatest net loss of
forests and the greatest release of stored carbon into the atmosphere, due to the disappearance
of vegetation.16 Livestock is one of the main causes of deforestation in Latin America. Other
important ecosystems are also threatened by increasing populations of farm animals. The
Brazilian region of Cerrado, the most biologically diverse savannah in the world, produces
half of the country's soybean crops animal species in the region compete with the rapid
expansion of Brazil's agricultural frontier, which focuses primarily on soybeans and maize.
Livestock farming is another major threat in the region, producing nearly 40 million head of
cattle per year. The production of farm animals also causes emissions of up to 28 million
tonnes of CO2 / year from cultivated soils. Soils, like forests, act as carbon sinks and store
more than double the carbon in vegetation or the atmosphere 17. However, human activities
have significantly reduced the amount of carbon sequestered in the soil, contributing to GHG
emissions18 . Desertification, or land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas,
is also exacerbated and facilitated by the animal agriculture sector 19(FAO 2007). By reducing
productivity and the amount of vegetation cover, desertification allows CO2 to disperse into
the atmosphere. Desertification of pastures due to livestock is responsible for CO2 emissions
of up to 100 million tonnes per year.20

Strategies and next steps

Mitigating the contributions of the animal agriculture sector to climate change requires
comprehensive and immediate action from policy makers, producers and consumers. Stronger
regulations are needed to hold structures accountable for their greenhouse gas emissions. A
key step is the environmental pricing of services - natural resources that are usually free or
below cost - that lead to "overexploitation and pollution"21
Until now, most of the mitigation and prevention strategies undertaken by the animal
agriculture sector have focused on technical solutions. For example, researchers are studying

15
OGINO, A., & ORITO, H. (2007, July 09). Evaluating environmental impacts of the
Japanese beef cow–calf system by the life cycle assessment method.
16
Glatzle, A., n.d. Questioning key conclusions of FAO publications 'Livestock's Long Shadow' (2006)
appearing again in 'Tackling Climate Change Through Livestock' (2013).
17
Steinfeld, H., n.d. Livestock's long shadow: environmental issues and options/ Henning
Steinfeld ( etal ), Rome. Rome: FAO, 2006.
18
Steinfeld, H., n.d. Livestock's long shadow: environmental issues and options/ Henning
Steinfeld ( etal ), Rome. Rome: FAO, 2006.
19
Steinfeld, H., n.d. Livestock's long shadow: environmental issues and options/ Henning
Steinfeld ( etal ), Rome. Rome: FAO, 2006.
20
Fao.org. 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.fao.org/3/i3437e/i3437e03.pdf> [Accessed 10
January 2022].
21
Steinfeld, H., n.d. Livestock's long shadow: environmental issues and options/ Henning
Steinfeld ( etal ), Rome. Rome: FAO, 2006.
the reformulation of ruminant diets to reduce enteric fermentation and some methane
emissions 22 One of these remedies is a plant bolus, formulated to reduce excessive
fermentation and regulate the metabolic activity of rumen bacteria to reduce methane
emissions from animals and their manure (Drochner W, Nierenberg D, personal
communication). USDA and U.S.EPA helps fund anaerobic digesters projects nationally
and internationally.23 These digesters, now used in some large-scale intensive containment
facilities, capture methane from manure for use as an energy source 24 , but are generally not
economically viable for small farms.25 In addition, producers burn animal waste for fuel. The
world's largest pork producer, Smithfield Foods and one of the largest poultry producers,
Tyson Foods (Springdale, AR), both use fats from animal by-products to create biofuels26
McDonalds and food giant Cargill which supplied McDonald's with soybeans for chicken
feed, recently reached an agreement with other major Brazilian soy traders. Designed by the
international environmental organization Greenpeace, a 2-year moratorium was enacted in
2007 to prevent the purchase of soybeans from recently deforested areas of Brazil. As
consumers increasingly prefer more environmentally friendly products and techniques, the
reduction in the consumption of meat, eggs and milk, as well as the choice of animal products
produced from more sustainable ways, such as those from organic systems, can be equally
essential strategies. Indeed, organic farming has the potential to reduce GHG emissions and
sequester carbon . In addition, raising beef cattle on grass organically, as opposed to fattening
confined cattle with concentrated feed, can emit 40% less GHGs and consume 85% less
energy than beef. conventionally produced
CONCLUSION
However, there remains an immediate need for further research into both technical and less
technology-dependent strategies to record existing GHG emissions from individual
production plants and to provide lessons to producers and policy makers to reduce the
harmful effects on the climate of animal agriculture. Given the urgency for global action -
the calls are echoed by scientists and world leaders - individual consumers must also
participate made several recommendations, including reducing meat and milk consumption in
high-income countries, because “the urgent task of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions
requires action on all major fronts. "; concluded that, for high-income countries, “greenhouse
gas emissions from meat consumption deserve the same control as those from driving and
flying”.

22
Johnston, T. "Tyson teams with ConocoPhillips to produce renewable diesel fuel." MeatingPlace. com 16
(2007).
23
Storck, A. B. "More farms find unlikely power source: manure." Meatingplace. com 30 (2007).
24
Steinfeld, H., n.d. Livestock's long shadow: environmental issues and options/ Henning
Steinfeld ( etal ), Rome. Rome: FAO, 2006.
25
Environmental Health Perspectives. 2022. Global Farm Animal Production and Global Warming:
Impacting and Mitigating Climate Change | Environmental Health Perspectives | Vol. 116, No. 5. [online]
Available at: <https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/ehp.11034#b44-ehp0116-000578> [Accessed
10 January 2022].
26
Steinfeld, H., n.d. Livestock's long shadow: environmental issues and options/ Henning
Steinfeld ( etal ), Rome. Rome: FAO, 2006.