Is Eating Meat Bad for the Environment?

While industrial animal production has been linked to countless diseases such as salmonellosis and
E. coli 0157, researchers say the current way of raising animals for food is also disastrous for the
environment.
According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),
Livestock's Long Shadow, livestock production is one of the major causes of the world's most
pressing environmental problems, including global warming, land degradation, air and water
pollution, and loss of biodiversity.
Meat And Global Warming
According to the FAO report, livestock are responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, a
bigger share than that of transport. Feed production (chemical fertilizer production, deforestation
for pasture and feed crops, and pasture degradation), animal production (enteric fermentation and
nitrous oxide emissions from manure) and the carbon dioxide emitted during processing and
transportation of animal products contribute to the problem.
Air and Water Pollution
Animal agriculture is probably the largest source of water pollution, contributing to eutrophication,
dead zones in coastal areas, degradation of coral reefs, human health problems, emergence of
antibiotic drug resistance and many others, according to the UN report. The major sources of
pollution are from animal wastes, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and
pesticides used for feedcrops, and sediments from eroded pastures.
Wasting Resources
The meat industry is a major cause of fresh water depletion. Ed Ayres of the World Watch Institute,
was quoted in Vegetarian Starter Kit, as saying: "Around the world, as more water is diverted to
raising pigs and chickens instead of producing crops for direct consumption, millions of wells are

going dry. India, China, North Africa and the U.S. are all running freshwater deficits, pumping more
from their aquifers than rain can replenish...Pass up one hamburger, and you'll save as much water
as you save by taking 40 showers with a low-flow nozzle."
Biodiversity Loss
Countless single state centrifugal pump acres of rainforest have been destroyed to create land for
cattle grazing. FAO estimates in the U.S., grazing has contributed to the demise of 26% of federallylisted threatened and endangered species. The situation is worse in South America where ranchinginduced deforestation is one of the main reasons for the loss of plant and animal species in tropical
rainforests.
In 306 of the 825 terrestrial eco-regions identified by the Worldwide Fund for Nature, livestock are
identified as "a current threat", while 23 of Conservation International's 35 "global hot spots for
biodiversity" - characterized by serious levels of habitat loss - are affected by livestock production.
"The way that we breed animals for food is a threat to the planet. Be aware of various basic
improvements which should be added to a commercial
centrifugal or positive displacement pump. For pumps that have overhung impellers, replacing the
shaft with a solid. Many installed pumps were not originally designed for their present use.
Typically, a line in a company changes and a pump that once providedcooling water to an injection
molding machine is now needed to transfer oil from a rail car to a tank. Sadly, this causes many
problems for the pump and the plant. Pumps operate where the pump curve crosses the system
curve. If you move a pump from one system to another, this means that the system curve is different.
This new system may cause the pump to operate away from its best efficiency point, leading to
vibration and other component failures that are simply symptoms of a mis-matched pump and
system.shaft is a desirable improvement instead of the common sleeved shafts. Mechanical seals
may be enhanced with silicon carbide faces, and elastomers can be replaced with EPDM. In addition,
magnetic bearing protectors would be a huge step upin relationship to the lip seals that most
commercial pumps use to maintain clean bearing sump oil.
It pollutes our environment while consuming huge amounts of water, grain, petroleum, pesticides
and drugs. The results are disastrous," Dr. David Brubaker, at Johns Hopkins University's Center for
a Livable Future, was quoted in Vegetarian Starter Kit as saying.
Sources:
Mercy For Animals, Vegetarian Starter Kit, Chicago
Steinfeld, Henning, et al., Livestock's Long Shadow, The Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations, New York, 2006