“An American helps more in controlling global warming by going vegetarian than by switching their car to a hybrid Prius.”
By reading the article and by looking at the facts, I agree with the statement of the UN, that by reducing our consumption of meat, we would be able to contribute more towards controlling the climate change. Many people are aware of the various reasons contributing to environmental degradation like- overuse of fossil fuels, deforestation, and pollution by petrol and diesel run automobiles. But what most people do not know or fail to realize are the huge consequences that as trifling a habit as eating meat can have on the nature.
Like the fact that livestock farming generates 18% of the worldwide greenhouse emissions- in comparison with the lesser 13% accounted by the world's cars, planes and other vehicles. Rearing animals requires land which results in trees being cut down to make space for farmland to grow animal feed. In addition, it is estimated that some 70% of former forest cover has been converted into grazing areas- deforestation not only heats the planet as there is nothing to absorb the carbon dioxide, but it also deprives us of all the other benefits. Even taking into consideration “grazing”, one can say that overgrazing is widespread, which eventually leads to soil erosion. Then there's manure — all the animal waste generates nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that has 296 times the warming effect of carbon dioxide.
Also, the continuous consumption of meat has resulted in increased demand, which has meant an increase in the need for animal feed- for which people from our own kind has had to suffer. Much more of the world's grain production is actually fed to livestock than to humans.
Apart from the motivation to help conserve environment, there are numerous other incentives that can be provided to an individual to cut down on meat eating. Like, the health risks one has to face can be seen in the increasing waistlines, especially in the US, as well as in the escalating threat of heart problems.
It can be argued that we can do or take up a lot of other things and activities to help the earth to not encounter its doomsday. Yes, we can cut down our dependence on fossil fuels and switch to more eco-friendly or CNG run cars. Yes, we can make and pass legislations against deforestation and move towards utilizing renewable resources. But as we wait for these alterations to occur, we need some personal changes and a good example would be to shrink the amount of meat we eat. Rather than trying to stop eating meat at once, what people can do is focus on cutting the consumption down every day.
As responsible citizens of the world we should be asking ourselves that is it worth it to continue eating meat everyday at the expense of nature? Well, I asked myself and said NO.
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