Impact of Animal Agriculture on Climate Change

Monocrop fields are also responsible for a variety of environmental issues, including air pollution. Pesticides and herbicides are sprayed in large quantities, resulting in a variety of debilitating ailments, including cancer, among farmworkers and the surrounding community. 

Soil depletion is another major concern. Monocropping and the usage of agrochemicals such as synthetic nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers are denying fields a fallow time or crop rotation. Over time, these practices deplete soil productivity. Soils can take hundreds, if not thousands, of years to recover their fertility.

Now, we will discuss the significant topic of our essay which is animal agriculture's impact on climate change. Agriculture is one of the most significant contributors to climate change among all human activities. According to estimates, the sector would contribute 37 percent of global GDP by 2020. 

A few important elements accounting for climate change emissions from human-cased agriculture will be explained thoroughly. Agriculture takes up half of the world's livable land — that is, territory that is both ice-free and fertile. 

There is no other human activity that consumes greater space. All urban areas, on the other hand, account for about 1% of livable land use. Grazing and the area needed to generate their feed, which includes enormous monocrops of species like corn and soy, account for a whopping 77 percent of agricultural land. 

Clearing forests and grasslands, which are carbon sinks due to their ability to absorb carbon, is used to bring land under cultivation for any sort of agriculture - be it livestock or crops for people or animals. 

Trees currently absorb around a quarter of all anthropogenic CO2, but as more forests are chopped and burned to make room for pastureland or monocrops, less carbon is absorbed, resulting in faster climate change.

Farm animals, often known as livestock, account for about 14% of all anthropogenic emissions, with annual emissions estimated to be around seven gigatonnes of carbon dioxide. Raising cattle for meat and dairy accounts for the majority of these emissions, accounting for 60% of total livestock emissions. 

Cows consume a lot of resources, require a lot of area for pasture (in the case of beef cattle), and produce a lot of dung, hence they produce a lot of emissions. Nitrous oxide and methane are found in cow manure, with the latter being one of the most potent greenhouse gasses due to its exceptional ability to absorb heat. Methane is around 30 times more effective than carbon dioxide at absorbing and trapping heat in the atmosphere. 

Furthermore, fish, shellfish, shrimp, and other marine life are harvested in massive quantities from the waters. Nets the size of jumbo jet jets are pulled through the ocean or across the seafloor, collecting everything in their path. 

In 2011, direct fishing activities, along with the energy used to transport, process, and chill carcasses, resulted in an estimated total of 179 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, a figure that is expected to rise as demand for seafood grows.