In recent years, the meat industry has seen a stark increase in demand due to the growing human population. The raising of livestock for dairy, slaughter, or other human benefits are all part of the meat industry and are known as animal agriculture. The more people on the planet, the more meat produced, which continues the vicious cycle that is destroying the environment. If people consider Earth as one giant farm, the issues like water shortage and land shortage would make more sense. All the land being used for animal agriculture and all the water is being used to raise livestock and livestock feed. Combining everything that is happening to the planet due to the meat industry, it is a travesty. The meat industry has an abundance of inefficiencies regarding the environment including mass amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, vast land shortages, and a growing water crisis. 

The 'greenhouse effect' is known by scientists to be the main cause of the global warming trend due to the abundance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Essentially the Earth warms up when heat radiating from the Earth, towards space, is trapped in the atmosphere. There are three greenhouse gases: Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Chlorofluorocarbons and Nitrous Oxide that add to the greenhouse effect ("A Blanket around the Earth"). Carbon Dioxide is released from natural processes like volcanic eruptions or by human activity such as deforestation. Methane comes mostly from agriculture and manure decomposition. Nitrous Oxide is produced by soil cultivation and fertilizer usage. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) are less well known because they are synthetic compounds, but are only found in industrial settings. The greenhouse effect will warm the oceans and begin to melt glaciers, which will increase sea levels ("A Blanket around the Earth"). There are many more effects due to the growing of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere including the extinction of species. These species cannot survive in the rising temperatures because their habitats are being affected too drastically. The major cause of global warming is the greenhouse gas production in the meat industry: animal agriculture, meat production, and meat consumption. 

Global warming exists and one thing that causes it is the release of greenhouse gases through meat production. One explanation for this is seen in Kip Andersen's Cowspiracy, which sheds light on how "animal agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, more than the combined exhaust from all transportation" (Cowspiracy). There is a big misconception when it comes to greenhouse gases because most people believe transportation is the main cause of global warming when, in fact, it is meat production. Not only is Carbon Dioxide a problem, but also Methane is 25-100 times more destructive than CO2 and has a global warming potential 86 times that of CO2 (Cowspiracy). Methane is a greenhouse gas that plays a major role in raising the Earth's core temperature. Methane (CH4) is mostly produced by cattle, which are the largest contributors to the CH4 emissions due to their larger bodies (Schwarzer 4). Cows contribute to the amount of Methane in the atmosphere by a few aspects of their everyday life seen in "enteric methane emission in ruminants explains about 75% of the CH4 emission per animal, whereas manure management explains about 25%" (De Vries and De Boer). Many people overlook Methane even though it is more powerful than Carbon Dioxide, the more widely known greenhouse gas. The main sources of Methane (CH4) are the "enteric fermentation of ruminants" and the release of Methane from manure, which also emits Nitrous Oxide (N2O). The usage of manure and N fertilizers to land for agricultural purposes increases emissions of N2O. Some CO2 is also produced on farms from burning fossil fuels (coal and oil) and energy usage and, by animal exhalation, which is usually not considered" (Schwarzer 4). The Methane from animal agriculture combines with the Carbon Dioxide emissions to trap the heat from the Earth and raise the temperature, which single handedly controls oceans, biomes, and habitats.

Species extinction due to the rising temperatures in the atmosphere is a growing issue that the public needs to be informed about. The rising temperatures have not been a problem since recent years because the Earth is going to reach its breaking point. Sutter discusses the importance of two degrees Celsius in the article "2 Degrees: The Most Important Number You Never Heard of": "If we humans warm the world more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit), we greatly up the odds of climate catastrophes. Think super droughts, rising seas, mass extinctions and acidifying oceans. We don't want to cross that mark" (Sutter). These two degrees will define the fate of the Earth and the species on it, including humans. The other reason for species extinction is deforestation. Large industries are cutting down forests to grow crops and raise livestock. Mischler elaborates on deforestation by saying, "Producing meat, especially beef, requires large amounts of land. Global meat consumption has increased in recent years -- and much of the new land for meat production has come from clearing tropical forests. This trend is a leading driver of deforestation and a significant contributor to global warming emissions" (Mischler). Bulldozing forests down to make room for more cows and livestock is devastating the environment and the species that live in it. Future generations will not be able to see the beautiful forests and species that live in them. 

Land shortage goes hand in hand with all the other effects of the meat industry. Nobody really thinks of how much land is being occupied by livestock until Kip Andersen uncovers the insane truth about the Earth for example, "livestock or livestock feed occupies 1/3 of the earth's ice-free land" (Cowspiracy). One third of the planet is covered in animal feed or animals waiting to be slaughtered. The land is being stripped from its natural habitats of forests, swamps, and grasslands. Animal agriculture is the main cause of species extinction, water pollution, deforestation, and habitat destruction (Cowspiracy). If forests are being cut down to raise more and more livestock for slaughter, or other means, then wild animals are losing their homes and species are going extinct. Rainforests are getting transformed into cropland and pastures, which is doing irreversible damage to the characteristics of soil, climate regimes, and topography ("Livestock's Role in Deforestation"). Another point made by Prof Mark Sutton was that "The US and Europe alike are using so much of their land in highly inefficient livestock farming systems, while so much good quality cropland is being used to grow animal feeds rather than human food" (Carrington). If people spent more time growing food for other people then the environmental problems seen today would not be as extensive as they are. 

Fertilizer and agricultural runoff is causing devastating affects for not only the environment, but also the meat industry as a whole. Rain runoff can take the fertilizer and carry it into lakes and rivers where eutrophication starts to happen. Eutrophication is the process where too much nutrients gets carried into a bodies of water and creates excessive amounts of plant life while at the same time creating an excessive amount of dead animal life due to lack of oxygen ("Sources of Eutrophication"). A big portion of the problem is cultivated from the fertilizer usage and the amount of manure produced. The manure is compacted in the land so it is hard for it to decompose by itself. Other than manure, fertilizer creates the greenhouse gas Nitrous Oxide, which stays in the atmosphere 4 times longer than any other greenhouse gas ("A Blanket around the Earth"). All of these issues tie into the greenhouse effect, which is damaging the planet, slowly but surely.

Not only is land shortage an effect of the meat industry, but also water shortage. Livestock is fed grain because it is cheaper than other means of food and easy to grow. The amount of grain needed to feed all the livestock in the meat industry takes up a vast amount of space. Growing crops for animal agriculture purposes consumes 56% of water in the US due to the amount of land needed to grow it (Cowspiracy). This percentage is a scary one but what happens when people think about the future? By year 2050, the Earth will have to be feeding an extra 2 billion people, which is a huge concern because that would mean the meat industry would have to account for the amount of grain needed to feed more livestock. The livestock cannot get fed with grain without the insanely large amount of water needed to produce it and keep the livestock alive (Carrington). If Earth is suffering presently with a lack of water for the amount of humans on it, then the future is a lose cause unless something changes drastically. To put things in perspective, Kip Andersen compares water used in homes to water used in raising animals: "5% of water consumed in the US is by private homes. 55% of water consumed in the US is for animal agriculture" (Cowspiracy). When people begin to think how much water they use in their homes everyday, they realize it is only a minuscule fraction of what the meat industry is going through daily. One misconception many people have is that by shutting off the faucet when someone brushes their teeth they are saving a lot of water. Wrong: Instead, one way that one can save immense amounts of water is by changing their diet or changing the meat industry all together. 

One argument that is seen in the media is that the meat industry is not doing anything wrong. One big issue with the meat industry is that it is run by colossal companies that have all the money in the world to keep what is happening to the environment hidden from the public. The people that are privy to this information are silenced or not taken seriously, which needs to change in order to help the Earth. In the article "Tam Hunt: Livestock Emissions, and the Cowspiracy's Very Short Tail" Hunt states that the documentary Cowspiracy tells the audience false information and "The problem, however, is that this figure [18% of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere comes from the meat industry] is misleading. First, about half of that 18 percent is from the fossil fuel energy used in the livestock industry for growing feed and transporting feed and livestock. So that brings us to about 9 percent of global greenhouse gases from livestock emissions" (Hunt). Hunt does make a point when he says livestock alone only makes 9% of greenhouse gases in the world, yet Hunt does not consider transportation of meat and livestock feed apart of the meat industry. Hunt is wrong because everything including transportation, livestock feed, and livestock emissions counts as a part of the meat industry as a whole. Hunt then goes on to say how the documentary is wrong on the aspect of industries and non profit organizations trying to hide this environmental fact. Hunt claims that the effects are not well known and organizations just do not know about it. He then says that, "This argument is pretty silly on its face ... because just about everybody  --  everybody except two authors of a single article  --  who has looked at this issue in the context of greenhouse gas emissions has found livestock emissions to be far smaller than fossil fuel emissions" (Hunt). He assumes that the filmmakers of this documentary are the only ones who believe the meat industry is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, sources like Stefan Schwarzer's "Growing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Due to Meat Production", Bryan Walsh in TIME's article "The Triple Whopper Environmental Impact of Global Meat Production", and De Vries and De Boer's "Comparing Environmental Impacts for Livestock Products: A Review of Life Cycle Assessments" all mention numbers from 15%-18% when talking about livestock greenhouse gas emissions. Hunt foolishly does not back up his statements with research from other sources, and is easily proved inaccurate with each sentence he provides. Rather than denying what is happening to the environment, people should be trying to find efficient and easy solutions to stop and reverse the damage being done to the world.

A solution that seems small but can have a big and lasting impact is a diet change for humans. Although it seems impossible to control the whole human population, one person can make a difference. For example, if someone changes their lifestyle to that of a vegetarian they can have an impact on the environment, "A Vegetarian's 'foodprint' is about two thirds of the average American and almost half that of a meat lover. For a Vegan, it is even lower. But perhaps most interestingly, eating chicken instead of beef cuts a quarter of emissions in one simple step" (Wilson). If someone becomes a vegetarian or a vegan, then the amount of animal products produced decreases including slaughter rate and dairy output. The demand decreases, which makes the supply also decrease. Not only does the necessary amount of livestock raised decrease but also the amount of greenhouse gases produced decrease. Schwarzer adds that the "reduced meat production would ease both pressures on the remaining natural environment (i.e. less new land clearance for livestock) and on atmospheric emissions of CO2, CH4 and N2O" (Schwarzer 8). The amount of land needed to feed the growing population would decrease instead of increase with the population. There would not be a necessity to destroy forests and other habitats, which would slow down species extinction and land shortage in their tracks. There is controversy about the government getting involved with people's diets but something needs to be changed regarding the production of meat. Whether the government regulates the amount of meat each person consumes on a daily basis or a person chooses for himself or herself, something needs to be done.

The meat industry is filled with processes that are killing the environment by producing boundless amounts of greenhouse gases, destructing forests for more open land, and creating and water shortage. There may be no other single human activity that has a bigger impact on the planet than the raising of livestock. Agriculture, through meat production, is one of the main contributors to the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and thus has an impact on climate change. One simple action like eating less red meat can have a colossal effect on carbon emissions; eating less red meat has a bigger impact than giving up cars. Staying on the path the world is now, meat production will increase, causing the rise of temperature due to the greenhouse effect, land will decrease, and water will become a luxury not a privilege. There are other things people can do to stop this process, but eating less meat or cutting it out of their lives entirely will do the greatest amount of good. People need to put their foot down when it comes to other people's carbon footprints. 

