Thus far, most mitigation and prevention strategies undertaken by the animal agriculture sector have focused on technical solutions. For example, researchers are investigating the reformulation of ruminant diets to reduce enteric fermentation and some methane emissions Connolly One such remedy is a plant-based bolus, formulated to reduce excessive fermentation and regulate the metabolic activity of rumen bacteria to reduce methane emissions from both the animals and their manure Drochner W, Nierenberg D, personal communication.
EPA assist in funding anaerobic digester projects domestically and abroad U. EPA c ; Sutherly These digesters, now in use at some large-scale intensive confinement facilities, capture methane from manure to use as a source of energy Storck , but are typically not economically viable for small-scale farms Silverstein In addition, producers are burning animal waste for fuel.
As consumers increasingly favor more environmentally friendly products and techniques, reducing consumption of meat, eggs, and milk, as well as choosing more sustainably produced animal products, such as those from organic systems, may prove equally critical strategies. However, there remains an immediate need for more research regarding both technical and less technology-dependent strategies to record existing GHG emissions from individual production facilities and to provide lessons to producers and policy makers for reducing the climate-damaging impacts of animal agriculture.
Given the urgency for global action—calls echoed by scientists and world leaders alike—individual consumers must also participate. McMichael et al. As the numbers of farm animals reared for meat, egg, and dairy production increase, so do emissions from their production. By , global farm animal production is expected to double from present levels.
The environmental impacts of animal agriculture require that governments, international organizations, producers, and consumers focus more attention on the role played by meat, egg, and dairy production.
Mitigating and preventing the environmental harms caused by this sector require immediate and substantial changes in regulation, production practices, and consumption patterns. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Journal List Environ Health Perspect v.
Environ Health Perspect. Published online Jan Gowri Koneswaran 1 and Danielle Nierenberg 1, 2. Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Address correspondence to G. Telephone: Fax: E-mail: gro. Both authors are staff members of the Humane Society of the United States. Received Oct 31; Accepted Jan Copyright notice. Publication of EHP lies in the public domain and is therefore without copyright.
All text from EHP may be reprinted freely. Use of materials published in EHP should be acknowledged for example,? Reproduced with permission from Environmental Health Perspectives? Articles from EHP, especially the News section, may contain photographs or illustrations copyrighted by other commercial organizations or individuals that may not be used without obtaining prior approval from the holder of the copyright.
This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Abstract Background The farm animal sector is the single largest anthropogenic user of land, contributing to many environmental problems, including global warming and climate change. Objectives The aim of this study was to synthesize and expand upon existing data on the contribution of farm animal production to climate change.
Methods We analyzed the scientific literature on farm animal production and documented greenhouse gas GHG emissions, as well as various mitigation strategies. Discussions An analysis of meat, egg, and milk production encompasses not only the direct rearing and slaughtering of animals, but also grain and fertilizer production for animal feed, waste storage and disposal, water use, and energy expenditures on farms and in transporting feed and finished animal products, among other key impacts of the production process as a whole.
Conclusions Immediate and far-reaching changes in current animal agriculture practices and consumption patterns are both critical and timely if GHGs from the farm animal sector are to be mitigated. Keywords: animal agriculture, CAFO, climate change, concentrated animal feeding operation, diet, environment, farm animals, farm animal welfare, food choices, global warming, greenhouse gas emissions GHGs. The IPCC a concluded with high confidence that anthropogenic warming over the last three decades has had a discernible influence on many physical and biological systems.
Discussion Impacts of growing livestock populations and intensifying production According to FAOSTAT FAO , globally, approximately 56 billion land animals are reared and slaughtered for human consumption annually, and livestock inventories are expected to double by , with most increases occurring in the developing world Steinfeld et al.
Department of Agriculture USDA has noted that GHG emissions from livestock are inherently tied to livestock population sizes because the livestock are either directly or indirectly the source for the emissions. CO 2 emissions from animal agriculture Regarded as the most important GHG, CO 2 has the most significant direct-warming impact on global temperature because of the sheer volume of its emissions. According to Elizabeth Holland, a senior scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research Bohan , The changes to the nitrogen cycle are larger in magnitude and more profound than the changes to the carbon cycle.
Conclusion As the numbers of farm animals reared for meat, egg, and dairy production increase, so do emissions from their production. References Baldauf S.
Africans are already facing climate change. Freshwater is an increasingly precious resource, yet factory farms use plenty of it for their animals. A single dairy cow requires gallons of water each day, for both drinking and cleaning purposes, since the intensely crowded conditions on factory farms require a constant battle to be waged on the build-up of excrement.
The crops grown for animal feed are also thirsty. The soy, corn, and other grains typically used in animal feeds require up to 43 times more water than feed based on roughage, such as grass, or allowing animals to graze—something animals in factory farms are typically denied for their whole lives. The vast tracts of land required for meat production, as well as the deluge of pollution and other impacts that are degrading ecosystems, threaten the existence of wildlife and a biologically diverse planet.
A study in found that land-use conversions for meat production were the primary driver of biodiversity loss. Lamb and cattle raised for beef require the most land of any proteins that humans consume, and thanks to surging demand for meat globally, wildlife habitats are being encroached upon at unprecedented rates.
Destroying habitat is a death sentence for the animals living there, many of which are already endangered species. Oceans are impacted by factory farming in numerous ways. Agricultural runoff pollutes oceanic habitats thanks to two sources: runoff from crops grown to feed factory-farmed animals which contain high levels of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, and animal excrement from factory farms themselves. Such runoff can cause algae blooms that lead to dead zones, upsetting entire ecosystems.
Factory farms are also being directly immersed in the water. A form of aquaculture, which also includes farmed shellfish and seaweed, fish factory farms are concentrated animal feeding operations for species like salmon.
These open-water cages, often located in relatively pristine and biodiverse areas of the ocean, produce pollution thanks to fish excrement and liberal use of antibiotics which are required to keep fish alive in these highly unnatural conditions. CAFOs contribute directly to global warming by releasing vast amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere—more than the entire global transportation industry. The air at some factory farm test sites in the U. According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO , animal agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of all human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, including 37 percent of methane emissions and 65 percent of nitrous oxide emissions.
Indirectly, factory farms contribute to climate disruption by their impact on deforestation and draining of wetlands, and because of the nitrous oxide emissions from huge amounts of pesticides used to grow the genetically engineered corn and soy fed to animals raised in CAFOs. Nitrous oxide pollution is even worse than methane— times more damaging per ton than CO2. And just as animal waste leaches antibiotics and hormones into ground and water, pesticides and fertilizers also eventually find their way into our waterways, further damaging the environment.
Nor do most people realize that CAFOs represent a corporate-controlled system characterized by large-scale, centralized, low profit-margin production, processing and distribution systems.
This alternative produces high-quality food, and supports farmers who produce healthy, meat, eggs and dairy products using humane methods. Consumers can boycott food products from factory farms and choose the more environmentally-friendly alternatives. And that means mandatory labeling, not only of genetically engineered foods, but of the 95 percent of non-organic, non-grass-fed meat, dairy and eggs that are produced on the hellish factory farms that today dominate U.
In , a new alliance of organic and natural health consumers, animal welfare advocates, anti-GMO and climate-change activists will tackle the next big food labeling battle: meat, eggs and dairy products from animals raised on factory farms, or CAFOs.
Feeding huge numbers of confined animals actually uses more food, in the form of grains that could feed humans, than it produces. One of the largest, found in the Gulf of Mexico, was estimated in to be the size of Massachusetts - square kilometres.
Nature Factory farming endangers the survival of other animals and plants, with impacts including pollution, deforestation and climate change.
FAO 3. Factory farming endangers the natural world. By taking action against factory farming, we are also helping to preserve valuable ecosystems and the animals and plants that inhabit them. With hundreds or often thousands of farm animals crammed together, factory farms can create a range of pollution problems. This can affect both natural environments and the animals and plants that inhabit them In , the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO described livestock farming as '…one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems' 3.
More traditional farming methods can be relatively efficient, converting grass and other waste products into useful food. But the "fast-growth, high-yield" factory-farming model is far less efficient, using substantial amounts of grain and protein-rich soya. These crops often receive large quantities of pesticides and nitrogen-and-phosphorus-rich fertiliser to boost plant growth This has obvious uses, helping us to achieve higher plant yields, but a large amount of the fertiliser can be wasted and lost to the environment Farm animals produce large amounts of nitrogen- and phosphorus-rich waste on a daily basis.
This can be a good thing - animal waste can be a useful form of manure, replenishing the soil with certain nutrients But in factory farms, the concentration of animals indoors generally means that the waste is concentrated in relatively small areas. This waste should be properly managed and disposed of, but this isn't always the case, and it can find its way into the natural environment Nitrogen and phosphorus can create significant problems: for example, they can leak into water courses.
This can kill plants and animals, and even leave vast 'dead zones', where few species are able to survive. Some of the nitrogen will also become gaseous, turning into ammonia, for instance 21 , which can acidify waters and deplete the ozone layer. And we can be directly affected too, as the quality of water supplies can be threatened It's not just dangerous levels of nitrogen and phosphorus that arise from factory farms - they can produce a cocktail of contaminants including pathogens such as E.
The livestock business is among the most damaging sectors to the earth's increasingly scarce water resources, contributing among other things to water pollution from animal wastes, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilisers and the pesticides used to spray feed crops.
United Nations UN Factory farming pollutes environments. By taking action against factory farming, we are not just creating a food and farming revolution; we are also tackling some of the world's most pressing environmental problems.
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