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Sydney Tu

English 12- Gango

Period 6

3 November 2017

Changing the Environment One Plate at a Time

Within the past 5,000 years, the Earth’s temperature has collectively risen 4°C to 7°C .

Seems insignificant? Now imagine that same temperature rising within only one century. The

rate of this warming is exponential and has rapidly multiplied 20 times since then (“How is

Today’s Warming”). This heat is due to climate change, which is the alteration in regional

patterns and weather conditions. People and their fuel-reliant activities emit such a hefty amount

of harmful gases that more heat is accumulating than escaping the atmosphere, producing a

greenhouse effect. Therefore, activities, such as agriculture, that are responsible for interrupting

the atmosphere's natural cycle should be diminished. Making great changes to counter climate

change can become difficult for anyone, especially for those whose lives are established around

using fuels. As a result, people can significantly lower these emissions of greenhouse gases by

simply changing their diets.

Many humans rely on agriculture as their main food source. Agricultural foods needs to

be produced, processed, packaged, transported, and prepared before it is served to an individual.

This whole system not only requires a significant amount of land, but it poisons the atmosphere

with greenhouse gases, specifically methane (“Agriculture and Climate Change”). In order to

raise that livestock, 70% of pastures are dedicated produce feed for cattle (Stevens, Before the

Flood). This leads to more deforestation and surface warming from the heat energy used to

process the feed . Also, raising livestock, mainly cows, greatly contributes to methane output due
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to their enteric fermentation and belches during the digestive process (Nahiyan). In other words,

whenever cows intake their feed, the bacteria lining the stomach would help in digestion, but

these microbes also release methane that gets excreted into the air by the organism. Therefore,

beef would be an inefficient product for consumption since the procedure to grow and acquire

the meat damages the environment and adds more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. As a

result, people can choose to consume less beef, so there would be a lower demand for meat

production. Hence, since less cows are needed, there is less methane being produced to increase

climate change any further.

However, even though agriculture only makes up 14% of the total greenhouse gas

emissions, the effects from it still creates a harmful impact (Legg and Huang). Instead of

methane, some would propose to focus on solutions to reduce the more abundant gas: carbon

dioxide. For instance, since carbon dioxide lingers around longer than short gases, methane, it is

important to reduce that gas emission first, such as eliminating the burning of fossil fuels for

industrial productions (Reiter). Even though it is important to keep in mind of the long terms

effects that carbon dioxide holds, it does not mean it should receive more attention than short-

lived gases. Methane actually has a heavier impact than carbon dioxide. One molecule of

methane is equivalent to the effect twenty-three molecules of carbon dioxide (Stevens, Before the

Flood). For this reason, adapting one’s diet to reduce methane, which is mainly produced from

agriculture, is rather important to prevent another heavy burden. When removed, it creates an

immediate response that reduces the instantaneous heat that carbon dioxide does not necessarily

cause. If people are able to focus on the immediate problems, this would allow them to have the

full attention they need into focusing on the longer-term issues.

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On the other end of the spectrum, choosing to consume food products wisely can be

beneficial. Not only does consuming more natural or plant-based foods can reduce an

individual’s risk to diseases, it can allow the environment to restore itself. Without the need for

more land to supply the cattle with, there would be less destruction of the forests. These forests

would safely reabsorb a sizeable amount of the carbon dioxide produced by humans, animals,

and fuel-impacted activities (Stevens, Before the Flood). However, if those forests were to be

clear-cutted, such as burning them, all of the carbon stored would be emitted back into the

atmosphere as well as the excess energy from the heat. This could potentially lead to the

destruction of future forests due to the poor regrowth and climate conditions. Not only that, the

ecosystems and biodiversity living within the parameters of the forests would be diminished.

This could possibly cause an extinction vortex of species that forests depend on to thrive.

Anyhow, it is best to leave the environment as natural as possible, and this could be done

through the smallest means of making food choices.

Ultimately, climate change is a heavy issue to take action upon, but it is not impossible.

Individuals can combat it by implementing small changes in their lives. This includes consuming

less emission-intensive food items which can overall cut down greenhouse gas emissions

originating from agriculture. Ergo, if the human race does their part in helping the environment,

it would be easier for the Earth to recycle and heal itself in order to fulfill a healthy home for

everyone.

Works Cited

“Agriculture and Climate Change.” European Environment Agency, 30 June 2015,

www.eea.europa.eu/signals/signals-2015/articles/agriculture-and-climate-change.
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Accessed 25 Sept. 2017.

“How is Today’s Warming Different from the Past?” NASA,

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GlobalWarming/page3.php. Accessed 22

September 2017.

Legg, Wilfrid, and Hsin Huang. “Climate Change and Agriculture.” OECD Observer,

oecdobserver.org/news/archivestory.php/aid/3213/Climate_change_and_agriculture.html.

Accessed 26 Sept. 2017.

Nahigyan, Pierce. “How Much Does Agriculture Contribute to Global Warming?” Planet

Experts, 9 Feb. 2016,

www.planetexperts.com/how-much-does-agriculture-contribute-to-global-warming/.

Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

Reiter, Carla. “Reducing carbon dioxide emissions must be priority in mitigating climate change,

study says.” UChicago News, 1 July 2014,

https://news.uchicago.edu/article/2014/07/01/reducing-carbon-dioxide-emissions-must-

be-priority-mitigating-climate-change-stud. Accessed 25 Sept. 2017.

Stevens, Fisher, director. Before the Flood . Appian Way Productions, 2016.