A recent report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) points to the livestock industry as the most significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. At 18 percent (as measured in CO2 equivalent), the livestock industry emits more greenhouse gases than all forms of transportation combined. Livestock farming accounts for 9 percent of carbon dioxide emission, 37 percent of methane emissions, and 65 percent of nitrous oxide emissions. Though the agenda of climate change often targets regulating and reducing carbon dioxide emissions, methane and nitrous oxide actually contribute more to the detrimental effects of climate change because of the long-term reactions they cause in the atmosphere. Methane is 23 times more "warming" than CO2.

The livestock sector has experienced rapid growth in both its numbers of employees and the quantity of meat consumed globally. This has resulted in increasingly detrimental effects for the earth's environment and climate. Approximately 30 percent of the earth's surface is used for livestock farming, with about 70 percent of former Amazon rainforest utilized for grazing. (Amazon rainforest deforestation has also led to displacement and murder of indigenous peoples. For more information visit: http://www.wrm.org.uy/ and view the video "Uncontacted Tribes.") The livestock sector draws on increasingly scarce water sources in order to provide adequate amounts of feed for livestock and to sustain the livestock. It is also one of most contributing sectors to water pollution through the run off of animal waste and use of antibiotics, hormones, and fertilizers and pesticides used to spray feed crops. Additionally, ruminant animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats produce significant amounts of methane as a natural part of their digestive process.

Additional links to view:

"Reducing individual meat consumption may by 10% may reduce greenhouse gas emission" http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/562956

"Livestock's Long Shadow" http://www.virtualcentre.org/en/library/key_pub/longshad/a0701e/A0701E00...