I limit my meat intake for ethical reasons since factory farming is a inhumane nightmare. Glad to know the truth about emissions though.
It also isn’t the best use of water resources as more and more regions are affected by extreme drought. The ranchers reduce their herds because when can’t feed and water them adequately. Many ranchers in Texas had to import hay from other states again this summer.
Great article Anthony. I may have missed the false representation that cows are farmed only for "frivolous foods like cheeseburgers and ice cream sundaes," if you hadn't pointed that out.
One estimate suggests that the meat industry accounts for up to 18 percent of global greenhouse emissions, but I cited another study that suggested a much lower number. This calculation is hard to pin down because methane emissions are also more "potent" than carbon, but have a much shorter "half-life" in the atmosphere.
The solution here is not to eat less meat, the solution is develop cultured meat infrastructure and technology that would use a fraction of the resources.
I'm working on another piece that points out why it is so difficult to measure the carbon from the industry. The problem is that everyone is trying to include indirect emissions, which are necessarily based on estimates and therefore produce a wide range of results.
I limit my meat intake for ethical reasons since factory farming is a inhumane nightmare. Glad to know the truth about emissions though.
It also isn’t the best use of water resources as more and more regions are affected by extreme drought. The ranchers reduce their herds because when can’t feed and water them adequately. Many ranchers in Texas had to import hay from other states again this summer.
My only point in here is on the emissions. There are many reasons to consider vegan or vegetarian diets. I just don't think emissions is one of them.
Great article Anthony. I may have missed the false representation that cows are farmed only for "frivolous foods like cheeseburgers and ice cream sundaes," if you hadn't pointed that out.
One can care about mother Earth and the climate without creating false or misleading narratives about the meat industry (or any industry.) I dived into this a bit here: https://www.lianeon.org/p/the-promise-and-peril-of-artificial
One estimate suggests that the meat industry accounts for up to 18 percent of global greenhouse emissions, but I cited another study that suggested a much lower number. This calculation is hard to pin down because methane emissions are also more "potent" than carbon, but have a much shorter "half-life" in the atmosphere.
The solution here is not to eat less meat, the solution is develop cultured meat infrastructure and technology that would use a fraction of the resources.
I'm working on another piece that points out why it is so difficult to measure the carbon from the industry. The problem is that everyone is trying to include indirect emissions, which are necessarily based on estimates and therefore produce a wide range of results.