There is a lot of discussion these days about the impact of raising animals for human consumption on the environment. Enough convincing arguments are given to suggest how huge the environmental damage associated with the production and consumption of meat is.
A young US resident, Lilly Augen, has done research and written an article outlining some of the key aspects of the environmental impact of a meat diet:
Lilly notes that one of the most dangerous consequences of meat consumption is the depletion of natural resources, in particular the consumption of huge amounts of water for the production of animal products. For example, according to the Water Foundation, it takes 10 liters of water to process a pound of beef in California!
The girl also covers other aspects of this issue, which relate to animal waste, depletion of the topsoil, leaching of chemicals in our world basin, deforestation for pastures. And probably the worst of the possible consequences is the release of methane into the atmosphere. “Theoretically,” says Lilly, “by reducing the amount of meat eaten around the world, we can slow down the rate of methane production and thus affect the problem of global warming.”
As is usually the case, the best thing we can do in this situation is to take responsibility for our own actions. Most of the data provided by Lille is from American Institutes and Research Organizations. But this issue is truly global, and should not leave indifferent any responsible person living on Earth.