One of the greatest socio-ecological problems humankind faces is climate change due to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide among others, contribute to global warming by trapping heat in our atmosphere. At the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions, the world’s average temperature will increase by 2 degrees Celsius around year 2100 and the planet will no longer be able to sustain life as we know it.
Human caused, or anthropocene, greenhouse gas emissions are causing our climate to change with irreversible repercussions. Scientists estimate that just a single degree increase in the world’s average temperature will cause a catastrophic chain of events. Glaciers and polar ice caps will melt which will cause rivers to run dry, eliminating many freshwater sources. The melting of sea ice will cause ocean levels to rise, submerging low lying cities and increasing the severity and destruction caused by hurricanes and tropical storms (Brangham, 2017). Permafrost will melt and mountains will be at an increased risk of landslides and mass movement events (Brangham, 2017). Scientists warn that a two-degree increase will threaten human life (Brangham, 2017).
Although many environmentalists focus on reducing carbon dioxide emissions by switching to non-carbon dioxide emitting sources of energy and transportation, most North Americans have not taken a much simpler, cheaper, and likely more powerful route: reducing animal product consumption. Without a doubt, industrial animal agriculture is the leading cause of methane emissions and also directly causes species extinction, habitat loss, water pollution, and ocean dead zones, areas too low in oxygen to support normal marine life. It is generally accepted within the scientific community that between 10-50% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, mostly methane and nitrous oxide, are directly or indirectly caused by animal agriculture. These emissions are caused by ruminants, such as cattle and sheep, emitting methane and nitrogen oxide from enteric fermentation, a digestive process. In addition, activities related to animal agriculture such as manure management, fertilizer application, land use changes, and the burning of forests, savannahs, and agricultural residues also release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. As methane is 25 times and nitrous oxide is 298 times more harmful than carbon dioxide, in order to have a significant and meaningful effect on reducing global warming, anthropogenic release of these two gases must be diminished. Therefore, the best way to take action is by greatly reducing our consumption of animal products.
By adopting a plant-based diet we can reduce our carbon footprint, which is proven to release much less nitrous oxide and methane compared to an omnivorous diet. Worldwide reduction of animal product consumption would directly lead to a reduction of methane and nitrogen oxide gas in the atmosphere, reducing the greenhouse gas effect and working towards our goal of keeping the global average temperature below a two degrees increase. This is a relatively simple way of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, requiring only a change in eating habits rather than the adoption of expensive technology.
Eating a plant-based diet is economical and is one of the easiest ways for you to decrease you greenhouse gas emissions. On a day that you eat a plant-based diet, you produce on average 1/11th of the fossil fuels, and use 1/13th of the water and 1/18th of the land that an omnivore’s diet requires. Therefore I sincerely hope the world will join me in following a plant based diet so we can save the world.
Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/why-2-degrees-celsius-is-climate-changes-magic-number.
