meat climate change myth

In general, when you Google my name or names of people you're interested in, you'll find everything now on the internet. Ruminant animals are the ones making use of two-thirds of all agricultural land. (One popular Netflix documentary in particular has gotten a lot of attention, despite its egregious factual errors.) And dont get me started on this supposed food crisis. Reference: The Facts About Climate Change and Drought. If this reoccurs during the next minimum, regional cooling may be slightly more impactful on those given regions, but it would still pale in comparison to the amplitude of warming from human-caused climate change. Id rather live on another planet, than on one where every aspect of your life is subject to rigorous scientific control. Your support keeps our unbiased, nonprofit news free. When messaging focused on the collective responsibility of humanity, members of the general public were 50 percent more likely to donate to environmental causes, the study found. Yet cold weather is common cited as evidence against climate change both sincerely and, by some, disingenuously. Most processed food is bad for you. In contrast, human-caused climate change has already warmed the planet by 2 degrees Fahrenheit since the late 1800s, and climate scientists forecast we could see about 4 degrees Fahrenheit of additional warming by 2100. A sheet, of ice? Contrary to popular belief, scientists do not disagree that climate change is happening and that it is caused by humans.. In the mid 20th century, climate science was very much in its infancy scientists were just learning to decipher the influence of competing forces regulating climate. There's not a reason why you and I would eat chocolate ever other than because we like it. ", Dr. Gavin Schmitt, the head of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, posted an even more recent assessment of the state-of-the-art collection of climate models run in the early 2000s called CMIP3. One of those messages that I can think of that's repeated over and over is that we're using land to feed animals, and we should be using that same land to feed humans; that would be more efficient. John Kerry wants to try it, What the midterm elections mean for the climate so far, A post-pandemic construction rebound put building emissions at an all-time high. The environmental impacts of farming are complicated. So, where can people find out more about what you've written and maybe find you on social media? BUSTED: "Climate change leads to higher average temperatures but it also leads to more extreme events that are becoming more severe and less predictable." MYTH: "Planting trees is the answer to . STORY HIGHLIGHTS. Think of white bread . Its an essential point: The fault for emissions from meat does not lie in the laps of people who consume it. The only newsroom focused on exploring solutions at the intersection of climate and justice. But the other reason is simply the lifespan. So why should we believe them now? Obviously, its the latter. For a long time, I thought this was a valid message, that meat and dairy were worse for climate change than other foods. If WeWork really wanted to make an impact on the environment, and I believe it does the company sent me a list of other changes it is making, including removing plastic in some offices and installing LED lighting the biggest effect it could have is by turning to politics. And that means to really, truly make a difference to the planet the biggest and best individual impact is to vote. Dr. Mitloehner joins us for a closer look at the claims against agriculture and what he says is the truth behind cattle production and climate change. This is true. (US livestock presently consume 5 times as much grain as the US population does directly.) Excess flatulence is also a function of an unnatural diet. Worst of all, the growing campaign against meat is shifting the focus away from the worlds worst carbon emitter the fossil fuel industry. Scientists predict that it is highly likely that the rainfall patterns we all need for clean, fresh water will change, drying up in some places while causing floods in others. We're going to talk a little bit about the greenhouse gas impact of cattle production specifically, beef. In addition, most of the leading scientific organizations worldwide have issued public statements endorsing this position. Myth #10: Scientists claim climate change will destroy the planet by 2030. U.N. calls on Egypt to "immediately" free hunger striking activist, Past 8 years were the warmest on record, U.N. agency says, World is on "highway to climate hell," U.N. chief warns summit, Eco-activists block London traffic despite "proactive" arrests, COP27 climate summit begins: What to know and why it matters, Climate models have been impressively accurate for decades, study finds. That is called the "Consensus Gap.". The "debate" over climate change is a myth that conservative leaders must cease to perpetuate. We have the knowledge and know-how. Many studies have evaluated the scientific consensus, but the most famous, which as of this summer has been downloaded 1 million times, is this 2013 paper quantifying that agreement at over 97%. It's really no different than saying, Okay, we just need to have half as many people on the planet. Just pushing that message is not going to make that happen. They can't make a difference. During that time the solar irradiance decreased by one-quarter of one percent. Theres no such thing as climate change, Northampton has always looked like this. We need to make sure that we open up to a public that, increasingly often now, wants to know where their food comes from and that we open ourselves up and talk to them about how it's produced and why. But the rapid warming we're seeing now can't be explained by natural cycles of warming and cooling. We all know this, deep down. So, I felt a little guilty every time I ate meat or dairy. Here's How. I barely get struck by lightning more than once a month, maybe every three weeks at most, and its never done me any harm and Ill kill anyone who says otherwise! On-site ice cream shop helps Chaneys Dairy connect with the community But even more significantly, if we humans were not burning fossil fuels and thus not releasing long-term carbon from storage and if we were not using some 90 megatons of nitrogen fertilizer per year, would we even be discussing this issue? Whats more likely; that human industrial activity actually does lead to climate change, or that its all a massive meticulous centuries-long ruse to convince people that leaving Earth is a good idea? However, every year they emit less than 1% of the total emissions of CO2 that pollute the atmosphere, while human activity is the greatest emitter. Myth #7: The temperature record is rigged or unreliable. But the negative effect on the climate of Methane is 23 times higher than the effect of CO2. If you want to reduce your meat intake, it doesn't make your diet healthy by default. Are we supposed to believe this is due to widespread agricultural collapse brought about by climate change? As you mentioned, you could do the same thing with tea and coffee and wine. But, all of that taken into consideration, using the life cycle assessment approach, will lead to the result that the corn-finished animal will not have a higher but a lower overall environmental impact. Currently, CO2 levels keep Earth's temperature at a comfortable average of nearly 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Various analyses over many years have shown that between 90% and 100% of publishing climate scientists agree that humans are the main cause of our warming climate. Or, as is far more likely, is it a price-fixing conspiracy by the global bakery mega-corporation? Meat and dairy are big contributors to climate change, with livestock production accounting for about 14.5 percent of the greenhouse gases that humans emit worldwide each year. This was made clear by a 2008 study called "The Myth of the 1970s Global Cooling Scientific Consensus," which conducted a survey of the peer-reviewed literature from 1965 to 1979. UPDATED 7th July 2022 Meat and dairy Blog But they persist in trying to convince us its a real threat, citing places that were supposedly lost to the waves and were supposed to believe that places like Atlantis, Miami or Skegness actually existed? Global net human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) would need to fall by about 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching 'net zero' around 2050.". One of the variables they have to account for is a phenomenon called the Urban Heat Island effect. The Myth of Regenerative Ranching The purveyors of "grass-fed" beef want you to believe that it solves meat's environmental problem. Over tens and hundreds of thousands of years, the Earth's tilt and orbit around the sun varies in predictable cycles. London, England (CNN) -- A scientist in the United States has questioned the impact meat and diary production has on climate change, and accused the United Nations of . Though WeWork did not wish to comment for this story, it did send the research that inspired its policy and the email that went out to staff from the companys co-founder and chief culture officer Miguel McKelvey announcing the change. C limate change is an increasingly divisive topic due in part to widespread misinformation. Is cattle production to blame for climate change? Millions of people's lives depend on a dramatic reduction in the consumption of meat and dairy. To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. Because small concentrations of carbon dioxide have an outsized impact, scientists are very concerned about the recent unprecedented rate of increase. Take changes in sea level. And any impact of cooling would be short-lived, with temperatures bouncing right back after the minimum ends. It doesn't have to be a major change, but reducing our consumption of certain meat products that are extremely energy-intensive is one way in which we can affect greenhouse emissions. At question is a 2007 report by the UNs Food and Agriculture Organization called Livestocks Long Shadow, which claimed that 18 percent of global human-induced greenhouse gas emissions stem from meat production. Frank Mitloehner, an animal scientist from the University of California, Davis has been vocal about his view that meat has been disproportionately linked to climate change emissions. In the graph below, the model projection is the black line and the colored lines are the actual temperature datasets from various agencies. It is not meat eating that is responsible for increased greenhouse gasses; it is the corn/ soybean/ chemical fertilizer/ feedlot/ transportation system under which industrial animals are raised. Just think; if they hadnt killed all the cows, wed still be slaughtering them today! Some have already started. By 2020, China alone is expected to be eating 20m tonnes more of meat and dairy a year. What about the rest of the world, where maybe beef and dairy production is not quite as efficient? We can do this throughout the world. ", Despite this scientific consensus, only 1 in 5 Americans understand that almost all climate scientists agree that climate change is real and caused by humans. Before then, I thought it was silly, but now I know I was silly thinking that. The term weather, on the other hand, is the short-term, sometimes abrupt day-to-day variation in any given location. "Grass-fed," or "pasture-raised," livestock eat primarily, but not exclusively, forage. A Tesla dealership in New York, New York on July 23, 2018. Frank: So that your listeners really get a feel for how significant this issue is or how insignificant it is, I should say the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) of the United States looks at all sources of greenhouse gases. And thats where the WeWork stance is so concerning. Therefore, rising temperatures cause higher CO2 levels, not the other way around. "Earth's climate is always changing," is a popular opinion among man-made climate-change deniers, who point to the Little Ice Age and the Medieval Warm Period as alleged proof that Earth's climate has undergone drastic transformations without human contribution.. Changes in the sun affect global climate, but the energy the Earth has received . Ice cores from. It does not have a lifespan of 1,000 years; it has a lifespan of 10 years. Climate change is a long-term change in the Earth's climate, mostly due to the increase in the average atmospheric temperature ( global warming ). While it is true that varying intensity of energy from the sun has driven long-term climate changes like ice ages in the distant past, the sun can not explain the recent spike in warming. Natural factors changes in solar output and volcanoes would have led to slight cooling over the past 50 years.". A lot of your research has gone into this, right? Its the same with these hypothetical mass extinctions, as if thats anything to do with climate change. 2. Climate scientists Deepti Singh and Ben Cook debunk 13 myths about global warming. If cattle flatulence on a natural grazing diet were a problem, heat would have been trapped a 1000 years ago when, for example, there were 70 million buffalo in North America not to mention innumerable deer, antelope, moose, elk, caribou, and so on all eating vegetation and in turn being eaten by native Americans, wolves, mountain lions, etc. But because of CO2's powerful heat-trapping greenhouse properties, its presence makes a huge difference. Any kind of CO2 that you have ever put into the air by driving a car is still in the air. These scientists have no shame or respect. But there havent been any changes, obviously. Meatless Tuesday and Wheatless Wednesday were the first nationwide call for Americans to change their eating habits voluntarily. Frank: Well, thanks for having me. As part of our commitment to sustainability, in 2021 Grist moved its office headquarters to the Bullitt Center in Seattles vibrant Capitol Hill neighborhood. Obamas climate change envoy: fossil fuels will have to stay in the ground, Holiday feasts of the future: how climate change could transform our food interactive, Climate change in Nicaragua pushes farmers into uncertain world, Climate change is not just about science its about the future we want to create, Political consensus on climate change has frayed, says Ed Miliband, Why we need to talk about the scientific consensus on climate change, UK pledges 720m to climate change fund for poor countries, due to widespread agricultural collapse brought about by climate change, causing forced migration of millions of people. Many people in animal agriculture just haven't really spent enough attention on that very topic, and now they see, this is more serious than we originally thought. But only if we point our crosshairs at the right target. Facebook, Follow us on But what about clearing the Brazilian rain forest? The remainder one-third of all agricultural land is what we refer to as arable land. That's the land where you can grow crops crops for animals and for people. Since air temperatures on Earth are going up, many scientists tend to believe it's global warming that is to blame for droughts that affect agriculture, deprive billions of people of drinking water, and put their health at risk. There are actually environmentally responsible ways to farm meat. I have been politically active on the issue for over 20 years and have . If they keep their methane steady, then they are not increasing global warming. Don't Buy It. WeWork, the co-working mega-giant, recently instituted a new policy at its office spaces across the world: No more meat. A Texas. Myth #10: Scientists claim climate change will destroy the planet by 2030. Meat and dairy specifically account for around 14.5% of global greenhouse emissions. If those people concerned about rising levels of greenhouse gasses, instead of condemning meat eating, were condemning the enormous output of greenhouse gasses due to fossil fuel and fertilizer use by a greedy and biologically irresponsible agriculture, I would cheer that as a truthful statement even if they werent perceptive enough to continue on and mention that the only new carbon, the carbon that is responsible for rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere, is not biogenic from livestock but rather anthropogenic from our releasing the carbon in long term storage (coal, oil, natural gas.) That is a big black eye animal agriculture has, and rightfully so, because you cannot sell something that people have an emotional relationship with, which is food. This would not only be devastating to the aquatic species which rely directly on reefs, but also to millions of people worldwide who depend on the ecosystem for sustenance and business, as well as the web of life as a whole. When 78% of all food in this country is sold by Greggs, OF COURSE youre going to see this sort of thing happening. If we hit 2 degrees Celsius of warming, the death toll for coral reefs jumps to 99%. The only thing we are lacking is the political will to force industries to adapt. On top of it all, it may pose health risks. Additionally, the company isnt banning dairy, eggs, or fish, all of which have their own climate impact; after all diary still requires the same type of livestock as meat. The story is that cows produce methane, and everybody knows that's true. So, I was very happy, as I was researching you and preparing for this podcast and learning more about the topics that you talk about I was excited to find that it was a more complicated story than that. After that, you did not add any new methane to the atmosphere, because anything that's emitted is also being destroyed. "They want to limit us to about four pounds a year. I have studied climate change seriously for years. That change in energy can gradually over thousands of years ease the Earth into and out of ice age cycles. All donations matched for a limited time. That might be a plausible argument if all of science relied on just one or two records; however, there are many independent temperature records produced by various independent bodies worldwide, and their data are remarkably consistent with each other. When I say start out, I mean they live the majority of their lives on pasture. In recent decades, the ratio of record highs compared to record lows in the United States (and globally) is increasing, averaging approximately two record highs to every one record low. Debunking the meat/climate change myth Editor's note: Eliot Coleman is one of the most revered and influential small-scale farmers in the United States, famous for growing delicious vegetables. Methane is really very different from the other greenhouse gases. One of the big issues is that people in animal agriculture try to appease that 1 or 2% of the fringe that make all this noise, and they completely forget the 98% that actually like animal-source foods and that have high confidence in that food being produced in a humane and a responsible fashion. A recent study in the journal Rangelands (Vol. Click below to hear the full audio: David: I'm here with Dr. Frank Mitloehner. In the study researchers wrote: It is widely assumed that emphasizing personal responsibility for climate change is effective at increasing pro-climate behavior whereas collectively framing the causes of climate change diffuses responsibility and dampens the incentive for individual action. What does that mean? David: That makes sense. Please enter valid email address to continue. Since the industrial revolution of the 1800s, levels have jumped to 415 parts per million an astounding 48% increase in 150 years. Erin Biba is a science journalist who writes about climate change, field science, biology, technology, and other science-related topics. Methane is really very different from the other greenhouse gases. When it comes to fighting climate change we have the technology. The UN report shows either great ignorance or possibly the influence of the fossil fuel lobby with the intent of confusing the public. When you look closely at it, the so-called evidence for climate change, or global warming or warmageddon or planetary death spiral or whatever theyre calling it these days, it doesnt stand up to scrutiny. Civil Eats outlined this narrative in a recent piece titled How the Largest Global Meat and Dairy Companies Evade Climate Scrutiny. Indeed, the Trump administration just announced it is still planning on rolling back the fuel economy mandate set by the Obama administration. Climate-Friendly Beef Is a Myth. In this episode, Mary-Elizabeth Estrada and Dr. Ram Balasubramanian discuss three climate myths: Myth 1 - Beef consumption is bad for climate change. / CBS News. So, after a decade, it's gone. Still, that change in output is minor, having varied by only 0.1% since 1750. It was fantastic talking to you. The concern is this extra heat may "contaminate" surface temperature trends. Now, you just mentioned the comparison of food versus other activities. These gases are called stock gases because they always add up; they don't go down. It takes about 15 to 20 cows in India to produce the same amount of milk as one cow in the United States. But that's another one of those areas that's a little more complicated than that, right? What happened to global warming? No scientist will disagree that the climate changes naturally. First and foremost, scientists are not predicting this. Posted on 30 November 2015 by dana1981 This is the new rebuttal to the myth 'a nimal agriculture and eating meat are the biggest causes of global warming.' It's available at the short URL sks.to/meat The burning of fossil fuels for energy and animal agriculture are two of the biggest contributors to global warming, along with deforestation. Overwhelming scientific consensus affirms that the earth is warming at historic rates. What this means is, if a country like Ireland, New Zealand or the United States keeps their livestock herds steady, then they keep their methane steady. May 26, 2014 The Myth of the Climate Change "97%" What is the origin of the false beliefconstantly repeatedthat almost all scientists agree about global warming? Instagram, Follow us on With that said, a scientific collaboration to reconstruct past temperatures, called PAGES2K, indicates that global average temperatures decreased by no more than a couple of tenths of a degree Celsius during the Maunder Minimum. Clueless clime change believers keep telling me its a global change so that doesnt mean anything, but I LIVE ON THE GLOBE, so Id notice any changes wouldnt I? I think it's just very important that we get that message out there to people. Climate scientists are often accused of making alarming assertions about climate change, like "the impacts will be catastrophic by 2030" or "we only have a decade left to save the planet." Dean Burnett doesnt actually agree with any of the claims in this piece, but dont let that stop you commenting or shouting at him on Twitter @garwboy, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Myth #6: In the 1970s scientists warned about a coming ice age. But with the stakes as high as they are, accuracy in messaging is important. Therefore the release of about 100 kg Methane per year for each cow is equivalent to about 2'300 kg CO2 per year. None of that stuck but the carbon footprint discussion does stick. That makes methane very, very different from the other gases. These organizations include NASA, NOAA, the UK Meteorological Service, the Japanese Meteorological Service and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, just to name a few. The more roughage or fiber in the diet, the more methane they will produce. According to the EPA, all those sources consuming fossil fuels such as transportation, power production and use, the cement industry and so on combined are responsible for 80% of all greenhouse gases in this country. But there's no reason we drink tea or coffee other than that we like it. So the urban heat island effect is real but not very substantial. In contrast, focusing on personal responsibility for climate change does not significantly alter donations to climate change advocacy or the intent for future pro-climate behavior, the studys authors noted. David: All right. And where does this rise in sea level supposedly come from melting glacial ice? ", For perspective, NASA Goddard Institute climate scientist Kate Marvel put this consensus into relatable terms, "We are more sure that greenhouse gas is causing climate change than we are that smoking causes cancer. We use it for livestock. 1999-2022 Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Tom Philpott, The problem is CAFOs, not cows.I am dismayed that so many people have been so easily fooled on the meat eating and climate change issue following the UN report. Positive feedbacks like the growth of ice cover would further precipitate the temperature plunge. At that same time, the sun's output has been going in the opposite direction, diverging from the direction in temperature. The fact is clear. That has not happened in the past. If you were to fly from here from the United States to Europe and back, per passenger, that equates to 1.6 tons. What makes the recent changes stand out is the unprecedented pace of change. The temperature records are carefully fine-tuned by data experts to account for factors including the urban heat island effect, instrument sites being relocated, and instrument type changes. When it comes to climate change, meat is not the primary enemy. I'm our sustainability manager here at Alltech. 00:00 / 12:33. From the farm to your toilet, essentially. 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Myth #9: Grand Solar Minimum is coming. After ten years, that gas is gone. The problem is, it appears WeWork hasnt really done its due diligence in making this change. 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