animal agriculture presentation
DESCRIPTION
An explanation of how detrimental animal agriculture truly is. Today we hear about carbon footprints and recycling, but what we put on our plates is what makes the biggest impact.TRANSCRIPT
Animal AgricultureAn Unsustainable Future
Presentation by Rebekah Taviss
“3 Reasons Livestock Damages the Environment”. 2012. http://vegonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/livestock-factory-farming.jpg
What should we focus on?
• Population• Land• Water• Air• How can we (engineers) help?• How can we (consumers) help?
(Over) Population
• 1812 – 1 billion• 1912 – 1.5 billion• 2012 – 7 billion
• Today – 7.3 billion
• 2050 – 9 billion
Caburian, W. “The More, the Merrier?” The WP Wire. 2015. http://thewpwire.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/overpopulation.jpg
Land
Henner, M. “Factory Farming is Destroying the American Landscape”. Inhabitat. 2014. http://assets.inhabitat.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/08/Mishak-Henner-Feedlot-Photography-6.jpg
Water
• Fresh water – 2.5% of all water on Earth
Calgary Korean Baptist Church. “Water”. 2013. http://calgarykb.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/water08.jpg
Our water “fixes” aren’t fixing anything
• Consumption of the average American:– 206 pounds of meat/year• 46 pounds of pig• 58 pounds of cow• 102 pounds of chicken & turkey
– 248 eggs– 616 pounds of dairy
Equivalent to 405,000 gallons of water.
Air• Animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions• Livestock and their by products are responsible for 51% of all
worldwide emissions
Fenner, J. “Beetles to Reduce Global Warming Caused by Cattle”. Liberty Voice. 2013. http://guardianlv.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Cattle-Global-Warming-Methane-Emissions-650x459.jpg
CO2 is the least of our concerns
• Methane– 25-100 times more destructive on a 20 year time
frame– Global warming potential 86 times that of CO2
• Nitrous Oxide– 65% of all human-related emissions come from
livestock– 296 times the global warming potential of CO2
– Stays in the atmosphere for 150 years
What can the engineer do?
Overunder & Yale Wolf. “Nothing, Nevada”. Unurth Street Art. http://payload.cargocollective.com/1/0/633/138239/over-under_yale-wolf_nothing_2_u_1000.jpg
We have a choice to make
• Land required to feed one person for a year:• Animal-based diet (meat-eater) – 3 acres• Vegetarian diet – ½ an acre• Plant-based diet (vegan) – 1/6th of an acre
• Following a plant-based diet we would:• Use 1/11th of oil, 1/13th of water, and produce 50% less
CO2
• Save 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 ft2 of forested land, 20 pounds of CO2 and one animal’s life everyday
We are consumers
Parkour, P. “Free Your Mind”. 2012. https://hateandanger.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/modern-slave-fear-conform-consume-tv-media.jpg