Cutting Meat Consumption By 75% Globally Could Beat Climate Change, Study Says
Cutting meat consumption by 75% globally could help tackle climate change, a new study claims. Nope, this doesn't mean that you have to give up meat completely - but instead, making considerable changes is the need of the hour.
Meat industry has a giant impact on the environment, and meat demand has only gone up in the last few decades, surpassing the dietary needs of human beings.
"If all humans consumed as much meat as Europeans or North Americans, we would certainly miss the international climate targets and many ecosystems would collapse," Professor Dr. Matin Qaim of the University of Bonn, the report's author, said in a press release.
According to Qaim, we need to reduce meat consumption significantly - down to 20 kilograms or less annually. The new study was published in the journal Annual Review of Resource Economics on Monday and assesses the economics of meat industry while studying its benefits to societies, our bodies, and changing climate.
Meat consumption and climate change
Meat consumption is highest per capita among affluent countries in North America, Oceania, and Europe. The study predicts that demand for meat is expected to go up until 2050. Even though excess meat consumption comes with a series of issues for the body, its demand will continue to go up.
Meat is associated with higher emissions when compared to plant-based foods. In addition, meat is linked to increase in deforestation and loss of biodiversity, the study's authors added.??
Also read:?Climate Change Heating 'Invisible Ecosystems' And Transporting Pathogens To New Areas
How much, you wonder? Just cows alone produce ten times the amount of emissions per kilogram of product when compared to rice, the study claims.
The study does not say that a strict vegetarian or vegan diet is necessary, but instead is the preferable?choice "from a mere climate perspective."?The scientists want humans to "become more sensitive to the global impact of our decisions" - suggesting "sustainable consumption" of meat as an alternative model.
Also read:?Earth's Ecosystems Are Reaching A Point Of No Recovery From Climate Change
Are you going to cut your meat consumption to help reduce the ill-effects of climate change? Let us know in the comments below.?For more in the world of?technology?and?science, keep reading?Indiatimes.com.?
References
Jones, A. M. (2022b, April 26). Cut meat consumption by 75 per cent globally to tackle climate change: study. CTVNews.?
