Richard Schwartz, Jewish Veg
as posted on Jewcology.org
December 2015
In view of the above, a major societal shift toward veganism is imperative to avert a climate catastrophe and help move our precious but imperiled planet away from its present catastrophic path. We should make it a major priority to make that happen.
Climate experts from 195 countries have gathered in Paris working to come up with an agreement that will help avert a climate catastrophe. However, they are overlooking an important factor and this threatens the success of their meeting.
Here are some important reasons that it is essential to address climate change:
In short, the world is on a suicidal path and it is essential that the Paris climate conference succeed in finding a way to slow down climate change. However, the experts believe that even if every nation fully carries out its pledge to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, it will not be enough to prevent a temperature increase of over two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), an increase that experts fear will result in catastrophic climate-related events. Making the situation even more frightening is that some climate experts, including James Hansen, formerly of NASA, believe that the threshold value should be only 1.5 degrees Celsius.
A major reason that there is a potentially very serious gap between what is necessary and what is practical is that a major source of greenhouse gas emissions is being overlooked – animal-based agriculture.
It may seem naïve to argue that a mere change of diet could be a potent prescription for combating climate change, but the evidence is incontrovertible, and slowly the public is getting the message.
Much of the discussions by governments, environmental groups, and individuals over the past 20 years and at the Paris climate change conference have focused on implementing changes in energy use and have given little attention to the impact of our diets. This trend changed somewhat upon publication of a landmark 2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” estimating that livestock agriculture globally is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs, in CO2 equivalents) than the emissions from all of the world’s cars, planes, ships, and all other means of transportation combined.
The FAO report, Livestock’s Long Shadow, also projected that the world’s then annual consumption of almost 60 billion land-based animals will double by mid-century if current human population growth and dietary trends continue. The resulting increase in GHGs would largely negate reduced GHG emissions from conservation and improved efficiencies in transportation, electricity and other sectors, making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to reach the GHG reductions that climate experts believe essential to avoid a climate disaster. While that doubling may not occur, it is troubling that in the face of livestock’s strong role in warming the planet, many countries are encouraging the expanded consumption of animal products.
More recently, an in-depth analysis, “Livestock and Climate Change,” by World Bank Group environmental specialists Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang was published in the November/December 2009 issue of World Watch magazine. The authors argue that there are sources of GHGs from the livestock sector that were overlooked, underrepresented or placed in the wrong sectors in the FAO report, and concluded that the livestock sector is responsible for at least 51 percent of all human-induced GHGs.
In view of the above, a major societal shift toward veganism is imperative to avert a climate catastrophe and help move our precious but imperiled planet away from its present catastrophic path. We should make it a major priority to make that happen.
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