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beef equals climate change?

Discussion in 'Wildlife & Nature Conservation' started by Arizona Docent, 25 Apr 2016.

  1. Arizona Docent

    Arizona Docent Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Studies Show Link Between Red Meat and Climate Change

    The article linked above describes two recently published studies linking red meat production (beef and lamb) to climate change. I stopped eating red meat about two decades ago and do not miss it. I was surprised to see the article state that per capita beef consumption has dropped throughout the United States. The number of fast food burger joints I see would make me think otherwise.
     
  2. lintworm

    lintworm Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    The link between meat production and climate change has been long known and is well established, so I am not sure what these studies add (I haven't read them though). It is also not new in any sense that especially beef, of all food products, is proportionally the largest contributor to climate change (and in water use as well....)
     
  3. dean

    dean Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I Wonder if any one has studied the effect of population growth on climate change in 1900 there were approximately 2 billion people on the planet now there are nearly 7 billion how much CO2 and H20 we kick out/consume?

    I stopped reading most of these studies a while ago, firstly they always seam to manage to find the results they are looking for. And secondly rarely are they fully independent as they need funding from one source or another.
     
  4. lintworm

    lintworm Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I do not know how large global C and H20 stocks are and how much H20 is consumed by humans, but I doubt that it matters. And with the increase in human population wildlife populations have plummeted, which alone would compensate. Livestock industry is a different story, but there it is clear already how much they do in terms of climate change....
     
  5. Arizona Docent

    Arizona Docent Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Although I did not read the studies, the summary article gives the impression that they tie in beef/lamb production with population growth.
     
  6. TheMightyOrca

    TheMightyOrca Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Beef consumption in the US has been going down for a little while now. Beef prices have been increasing for years (though I hear it's starting to go down again) and stuff like chicken is cheaper.

    I recently decided to limit my beef consumption to once a week. I've been eating it less than that so I may eventually cut it out entirely.
     
  7. Loxodonta Cobra

    Loxodonta Cobra Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    This personally doesn't surprise me at all. The agricultural food business produces more methane and CO2 than all of the worlds vehicles and factories thanks to the need to chop down trees for susceptible grassland, their natural dependence and bushiness centered around fossil fuels, and all of the poopin' cows.
     
  8. Jurek7

    Jurek7 Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Most problematic is one particular way of raising cattle, that is feeding them with commercial crops like soybean. This is dominant way in USA, but almost absent in other parts of the world, where cattle are mostly what Americans would describe as free range. It is worth to know that.
     
  9. lintworm

    lintworm Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I do not know if you have seen how they are kept in many parts of Europe, but that is not that different from the "US way"