The Low Down On Green Living
January 30th, 2009
Meat and Global Warming
Stumble it!
We’ve written before here at Low Impact Living about the relationship between meat consumption and global warming. The sad truth is that the raising and distribution of meat is a major contributor to our global warming crisis.
However, beef is by far the worst of the meats from an environmental perspective. According to an excellent new article in Scientific American, beef contributes more than 13 times as much to global warming as do the gases emitted from producing chicken. And it’s even more shocking when you compare beef to potatoes– the multiplier is 57.
The article, by Nathan Fiala, highlights some other alarming facts. For example:
- Producing the meat eaten by an average American each year produces the equivalent greenhouse gases as driving a car 1,800 miles
- Meat production is responsible for between 14 and 22 percent of the 36 Billion tons of greenhouse gases we produce on Earth each year
Please read the entire article How Meat Contributes to Global Warming here.
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Comments
Laura
January 31st, 2009 at 10:53 am
Loved the post Jessica! That article was very informative- thanks for sharing!
deb s
February 13th, 2009 at 8:22 am
Thanks for the info, I needed to read this now, it confirms in my mind that we as humans dont need milk, I have never understood why we drink cows milk! The impact of methane gas from beef is astounding, I shall keep trying to reduce my beef consumption…I eat very little beef now. Can you recommend some good reading/articles on what source of protein I can consume that is low fat, but gives me the protein I need for muscle health? When I went vegetarian a few years back, I did cause myself to have some serious health issues, I was not consuming healthy proteins. Thanks Jessica!
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