Scientists Say Eating Less Meat Is The Best You Can Do To Maintain The Earth

It is essential that we contribute to improving the environment such as reducing plastic consumption, recycling, as well as trying to bring down our own pollution contribution. Nevertheless, scientists are telling us that eating less meat is one of the best things we can do for our home planet.

It has been pointed out by recent research that our tendencies to eat meat, especially pork and beef, helps make water pollution and climate change worse.

Since agriculture is growing to become an actual industry and many species are extinct due to human impact, humans and our farm animals account for approximately 96 percent of total mammals on Earth.

Moreover, though a significant 18 percent of food production is from this livestock, they make up only 18 percent of the total calorie amount produced across the globe, which is only about 33 percent as much as the protein produced.

What to note here is that keeping livestock for slaughter does harm to the environment's sustainability. First, we cut down trees and replace farmland supposed to plant crops for raising them. Then, while keeping these animals, the use of fertilizer and cows’ waste increase global methane production – a greenhouse gas. Worse, livestock farms create pollution just as much as all the commercial vehicles on lands and airplanes in total.

In October, there were warnings from scientists against raising livestock for meat. They say that if the world wants to tackle climate change, it’s vital that we eat less meat. In particular, the US needs to cut down 90 percent of its beef consumption and eat 500 percent more beans and pulses instead.

Furthermore, they even recommend that we reduce the amount of pork, eggs, and milk that we consume provided that by 2050, the world’s population will exceed 2 billion people. Also, it’s likely that we will have to take “flexitarian” diets to be able to survive global warming.

However, some people cannot stop eating or cut down on meat, and they come up with other options. Their suggestions include imposing taxes on red meat, feeding cows with seaweed for lower methane emission, and feeding on insects instead of pork and cows.

Another option to avoid going vegan is producing meat in labs, which means no raising or feeding involved.

The Earth is hotter and hotter

Anyway, no matter what measures we take, it’s a must that we take action to change our diet if we want the Earth to live longer.