Savvy Vegetarian Blog

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Thu, 02 Apr 2009

Meat Eating and Global Warming

If someone you know is still on the fence about eating meat, here's something I found on IVU News to help tip them over on the veggie side.

Dr R.K. Pachauri is head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. He is also a vegetarian who urges meatarians to go meatless at least one day a week. Dr. Pachauri's blog features videos of his speeches, as well as interviews and articles.

In this PDF article, Global Warning! The Impact of Meat Production and Consumption on Climate Change, Dr. Pachauri lays out page after page of statistics and graphs.

A Few Samples:

• Livestock production accounts for 70% of all agricultural land and 30% of the world’s surface land area
• 70% of previous forested land in the Amazon is occupied by cattle pastures, and crops for animal feed cover a large part of the remainder.
• Estimated growth in the number of farm animals used per year: 60 billion in 2008, 120 billion in 2050 (in 2008, there were 6 billion people on the planet!)
• 1 kg of beef is responsible for the equivalent of the amount of CO2 emitted by the average European car every 250 km, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for 20 days. Over two-thirds of the energy goes towards producing and transporting the animals' feed.
• A farmer can feed up to 30 persons throughout the year on 1 hectare with vegetables, fruits, cereals and vegetable fats. If the same area is used for the production of eggs, milk or meat, the number of persons fed varies from 5 to 10.
• A person who lives 70 years as a vegan will prevent over 100 tons of CO2-eq.

Read Dr. Pachauri's article and pass it on