Grazing and Land Use

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Image from flikr

About 30% of the world’s total ice-free surface is used for meat processing. More than 260 million acres of U.S forest have been destroyed in order to create cropland to grow grain in order to feed farm animals (Walsh, 2013). Beef in particular uses up the most land, as cows need the most food (PETA, 2013). While beef accounts for less than 2% of the world’s calories, the protein product still uses up about 60% of the world’s agricultural land (PETA, 2013).

Deforestation is a cause for many negative environmental consequences. Tropical forests, for example, have some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. The destruction of these tropical forests – whether it be for meat production, or other uses – results in the extinction of several plants and species, having overall negative effects over tropical forest ecosystems. Increased greenhouse gas emissions also result from cutting down forests. Since trees absorb carbon dioxide and convert them into energy. The less trees there are, the more carbon dioxide remains in our atmosphere. Increased carbon dioxide in our planet’s atmosphere is one of the major known causes for global warming.

Facts, Issues, and Solutions