The Link Between Meat Eating and Climate Change

[mjbarrowful]

Climate change is not a threat to the planet. The planet Earth has gone through many things that are far worse than burning CO2. We breath CO2 out of our mouths after respiration. The consequences of CO2 "pollution" will not be a problem. The reason for not eating meat is mostly an ethical choice regarding the welfare of animals.

[julianchosun]

A study put out the year after this clip was published estimated that livestock generate not 18%, but actually, conservatively, at least 51% of all green house gases.

Google 'Goodland and Anhang, Livestock and Climate Change, 2009.'

[NinjaGhostScorpion]

Can you possibly make anything sound more like utter bullshit than this?

[thestreetsempty]

@NinjaGhostScorpion "Livestock's Long Shadow" released by the U.N. - read it. Extensively research animal agriculture: all its implications (environmental, human, animals). Knowledge is power, and you could be part of the solution - but not if you say "It's too scary, and I'm a slave to my vices."

[NinjaGhostScorpion]

@thestreetsempty It's not that I can't quit eating meat. It's that I don't want to. And if you can't respect that, then tough.

[IndifferentSky]

@NinjaGhostScorpion you may not want to, but others can view you for what you are and if you don't like that, that is just tough. I'm sure pedophiles don't WANT to quit what they do either, and why should we care?

[julianchosun]

@NinjaGhostScorpion:

That's fine. The question that raises though, is: Do you want to live with the consequences of eating meat, which includes the huge impact of global warming and climate change?

The entire lifecycle and supply chain of the meat and dairy industry produces not 18% but rather at least 51% of total green house gas emissions. Google 'Goodland and Anhang, Livestock and Climate Change, 2009.'

[julianchosun]

@thestreetsempty:

Actually that study is now out of date. It's been superceeded.

Google 'Goodland and Anhang, Livestock and Climate Change, 2009.'

The entire lifecycle and supply chain of the meat and dairy industry produces not 18% but rather at least 51% of total green house gas emissions.

[OvoidCranium]

What a load of rubbish, whether there are herds in the wild or on farms the animals do not put more CO2 into the atmosphere than was taken out of it by the plants they eat.

They are carbon neutral.

[IndifferentSky]

@OvoidCranium Where is your study on this? It's an entire industry that contributes to CO2, not just animal butts. It's interesting that millions of animals can be carbon neutral. That's pretty fascinating.

[whedonfreak976]

@IndifferentSky He will not respond boo boo, he closed his account.

[mornichen]

Go Green Go Vedg

[nwendt06]

this is a good video, it just goes to show how powerful capitalism is and how the rich stay rich........ when the world crashes and burns, i just hope i can laugh at all the people that thought us environmentalist were crazy!! rock on go vegan!

[wdcsucks1]

climategate!!!

[houseofisraelmusic]

Excellent presentation!!

[NorthernDancer1111]

Good info. I've been working on reducing meat intake gradually since i've been lifelong meat eater/lover. (what a paradox) Those conspiracy folks rarely seem to talk about this strangely enough, even Al Gore is afraid to talk about this???!!! Consumer is powerful and even if we reduced our intake collectively by 10-20 percent yearly, it would have massive impact on the factory farming industry.

[oxymoron616]

Voodoo "science".

[carringtonblush]

I often hear that animals eat 7kg of food to produce 1kg of meat - as if 6kg of food just vanished into thin air! In reality, that 6kg simply came out the back of the animal as potent organic fertilizer. Now, in industrial feedlot farming, that's often wasted or worse still becomes a pollutant. In free range organic farms, it returns to the soil, enriching it and providing more plant food for animals and humans. A good reason to eat meat but only if its *sustainably farmed* -THATs the key!

[popat2000]

@carringtonblush: and if that animal stayed alive it would keep on giving us that organic fertilizer for its entire lifetime. so the KEY is to keep that animal alive

Cheers mate ;-)

[handsandfaces]

keep the animal alive untill we eat it yes... jajajaja. no profit=no life

[VoiceOpinion]

Perfectly said!!!

[carringtonblush]

It's the system of meat production, not eating meat per se, that is causing the problem. Cattle happily eat fodder trees like Tagasaste. They do not need to be fed corn and grains. Newsflash for vegans - the majority of rural sites around the world are too poor for growing all that (unsustainably-farmed) protein from soybeans you are guzzling - and on these poorer sites, cattle and other livestock remain ecologically sensible stores of energy and protein for human consumption.

[UndyingRevolution]

Actually, meat eaters are the ones who are eating more soybeans (indirectly). Most of the animals raised for meat in western countries are fed soy-meal. 90% soy beans go towards making soy-meal in order to give to animals. So don't bring vegans into this. Actually, poor people in many countries (I've lived in a few) don't eat meat like you suggest. Most cattle raised in those countries go to rich European and North American countries.

[carringtonblush]

Most animal farming, like most other types of farming, is industrial, non-organic and horribly unsustainable - and we should eat less, or no, industrially farmed meat. However, like plants, animals CAN be farmed in an ecologically sustainable way. This is done more commonly in poor countries (eg backyard hens) than in rich ones. The environmental arguments are not against meat eating per se they are against fuel- & chemical-intensive industrial farming, whether it is of plants or animals.

[luvabl3angel]

Meat eating is not only healthy for the environment, but it's healthy for humans individually as well. It has it's health benefits. The want of the public for meat is why Factory Farms exist, to meet their wants. If the people didn't want to eat meat, we wouldn't have this problem. This is why it's a diet issue as well. So go veg!

[jum401]

what about climate manipulation? ever heard of it? yeah... yeah... I know, yet another conspiracy theory

[MidniteForestAngel]

OMFG I GET SO MAD HOW MEAT INDUSTRY IS KILLING THE WHOLE PLANET.

I am vegan i am choosing not to have children.

I dont understand how people can eat meat and have lots of children what on earth do they think is going to happen to the planet for their children and childrens children.

S|TOP EATING ANIMAL PRODUCTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sulara1]

Stop eating meat!

[NinjaGhostScorpion]

@sulara1 Simon didn't say.

[darrilyn8]

very informative. never knew the impact of meat production on the planet. Not condemning meat producers. We just need to work TOWARD change and healthier ways of being.

[veggiluver]

another great reason to become vegan/veggetarian. i am already a veggetarian and if i can do it so can everyone else. there's really no excuse unless you have some life-threatening desease.

[mango0kiwi]

totally agree i'm a vegetarian trying to be a vegan gotta lay off on the cheese lolx..but i don't think you should eat meat even if you have a life threatening disease. No one has the right to kill or eat a living being. That's just cruel.

[ahimsa4all]

Watch this and wake up! What could be easier than reducing (or stopping altogether) our consumption of meat, eggs and milk? If we do so, we can make a real and effective impact in the fight to prevent climate change.

[EndOfTheTunnel1992]

this is why i am a vgean... and a deducated one at that!

[iluvkandu7]

good on you. i'm vegan too. now-a-days i think people should start thinking more seriously about their diets, if not for the animals, then at least for their own health and the environment. we should really try educating the omnivore public more, because i think the main reason there arn't more of us already is the misunderstanding, the prejudice, and the many myths surrounding a vegan life style. we need to set them straight in the truth once and for all.

[organicfilms81]

Cattlewrangler I think we both agree, it's just you don't seem to understand that we have the choice to eat meat or not. Being on top of the food chain, like u say, only means we have no predator, it doesn't mean we have to eat the food that is just under us in the food chain (animals), we can eat foods at the very bottom of this chain (plants), in fact it's better because it's cleaner and healthier, containing less toxins. Animals are intoxicated by the accumulation of toxins in the food chain

[cattlewrangler]

Quote Animals are intoxicated by the accumulation of toxins in the food chain. What do animals eat (plants). So you are saying plants are toxins when animals eat them but plants are healthy for humans to eat. You are contradicting everything you say.

[organicfilms81]

Quote :" what do animals eat (Plants)" Obviously you don't seem to know what wolves, lions, hyenas and other animals eat.

[cattlewrangler]

Since when do people eat the meat from wolves, lions and hyenas? The animals humans eat are cattle and sheep which eat grass, turnips, cabage and grain which in case you don't know are plants. Pigs also eat grain. You said the animals humans eat have eaten toxic food (plants) then you said humans should eat plants because plants are healthier you are contradicting yourself.

[iluvkandu7]

the toxins in animal feed for factory farm animals are things like growth hormones and such, that are added after they're grown. plus, fields that grow animal feed are fertilized with human feces from cities, including drugs and such that were flushed. it gets into an animal's system, and then into yours if you eat the animals flesh or drink its milk. human plant foods are not grown or fertilized in such ways, and are therefore much healthier and less toxic than factory farmed meat.

[cattlewrangler]

In Europe hormones have been banned in cattle for over 20 years. In Ireland cattle are grazed on grass no factory farming. Farmers don't use waste from town sewers as fertilizer. We have a traceability system so you know where your beef came from and how it was produced. Don't brand all farming the same just because you are a vegan.

[iluvkandu7]

also, if we didn't give the grain to the animals, and we didn't load it so full of crap, it could go to feed the world's hungry.

[handsandfaces]

would it fuck it would go to all the people who now eat much more grain cos they dont eat meat. how stupid are you? lol

[UndyingRevolution]

How much grain do you think your meat animals eat? A lot more than the average vegan.

[handsandfaces]

right, so let me get this right. People shouldnt eat meat. So we stop eating meat. what happens to the animals? where do they go? the land on which they feed on is now got to be for crops to feed us.... Im yet to see a veggie pay for 100 sheep just to keep them warm and feed them and let them graze upon land. Keep them safe from foxes etc then at the end of it let them die of old age...

[eljagg01]

They wouldn't be bred by the billions for humans to gorge on their flesh, so the short answer is that they wouldn't exist. :)

[handsandfaces]

pretty crappy answer, but least you tried to stick up for a flawed cause.

[eljagg01]

Ethically, environmentally, and logistically, the adoption of a plant-based diet is inevitable.

Have a great day. :)

[sharinganx12]

Well according to your case, all the meat goes to the poor countries (Africa for example) who needs it. How about an exchange for once in awhile? Their crops for our meat...

[cattlewrangler]

If your man giving the lecture ate some steak he would have hair on his head.

[eannamo]

ahaha, very funny...

[organicfilms81]

and if you would stop eating meat you would have a head on your shoulder

[cattlewrangler]

If you ate meat you might grow a brain.

[sonalirmr]

Great video. I am sick of so called environmentalists who talk of the saving the environment and recycling and then go and grab a steak.

[andrej009]

Interesting point. But let's differentiate: Meat is not necessarily from cows. I personally only eat chicken and fish. What is my impact on climate change?

[luvabl3angel]

Chicken are also bred on factory farms as cows are. Fish are over fished and that can harm our ecosystems in the ocean and disrupt balance. There are many dead zones in our oceans now. Any sort of overbreeding animals is not natural. I hope this helped.

[frankodelic]

factory farming of animals is the most overlooked cause of climate change!

[organicfilms81]

They feed the food (animals...meat) of the rich with the food (grains) of the poor.

10kg of grains can only produce 1kg of meat... and how much shit does it produce...:

Each of the 1,3 billions of cattles produces 60 litres of methan per day. Methan is worse for the ozon layer than Co2.

One cow produces 23 tons of shit per year. 10 pigs : 21 tons. I wanted to multiply those numbers by billions, to see the amount of shit worldwide, but my calculator doesn't have enough numbers.

[cattlewrangler]

How much shit do you produce in a year? how many times a year do you fart? multiply that by billions.

[organicfilms81]

you're not making any sense, we're eating for ourselves, not to be eaten by another specie.

[cattlewrangler]

Thats what happens when you are at the top of the food chain but you were talking about animals producing co2, you seem to be a little confused.

[organicfilms81]

Damn, wake up. There's so much methane BECAUSE there's so many animals and there's so many animals BECAUSE people want to eat lots of meat. So that produces more methane than if there was only animals in the nature living FOR THEMSELVES. Now there's billions and billions of animals living, eating, shitting and dying FOR HUMANS. It's like trying to explain something to a 5 year old child.

[cattlewrangler]

It's like trying to explain something to a 5 year old child. Exactly and you can't still get it into your thick head.

[organicfilms81]

at least I have one

[cattlewrangler]

If only you would pull it out of your arse.

[luvabl3angel]

I just think the problem with cattlewrangler is he's stubborn. Being vegan/vegetarian isn't so bad you know. Try it.

[cattlewrangler]

I also eat vegetables. You need to balance your diet and eat some meat with your vegetables. As for being stubborn are you by any chance a teenage girl that thinks she is going to save the planet by not eating meat? I have seen many like you that eventually come to their senses in their 20's by eating a normal diet. Only a very small % of the world population are vegan something like 0.2%. So much for saving the planet from demon cows.

[luvabl3angel]

I've been a vegan my entire life, and I've never lacked in any sort of nutrition. Matter of fact, I'm very healthy. We've just gotten it into our heads that meat is healthy, when it really isn't good for us. Protein from meat is actually less absorbable than from vegetables. It doesn't make sense to continue eating meat when it is destroying our environment and wasting valuable resources.

[luvabl3angel]

[continuation] It's the 21st century, we need to make changes in our way of living. Not only is it healthy, it is sustainable. And for those who used to be veg, and went back to eating meat, they probably didn't have a strong enough willpower because as you said, most people eat meat. They just go back to their old habits again. Either that, or they didn't know how to eat properly and got sick. It starts with every individual to make a difference. :)

[IndifferentSky]

@cattlewrangler there is no need to eat meat, sorry, you're wrong.

[goose1077]

I wonder if they served beef at that conference.

[ALDFstaff]

The conference menu was 100% vegan. :)

[mphello]

@ALDFstaff

Excellent!

Lifelong vegan and animal rights soldier here.

I am so glad I got to meet Jeremy Rifkin in person at a conference for the animals in Washington DC in 1990. His book, "Entropy", changed my life when I read it in 1984.

[goose1077]

This guy is so full of it. Remember why we are supposed to be scared of global warming?  Because it will hurt our food supply. So he wants us to start eating like we are poor now instead of waiting until we have to.

[sarahshevett]

The climate has been changing since there was a climate. This is ridiculous.

[frankodelic]

A wise man's mouth works to his benefit. Not so for the fool.

[organicfilms81]

the ridiculous changes that are occuring since only the last 100 years. Or even the last 15 years, at a fulgurant speed. Nature don't change as fast as this. The last decade is the hottest in millions of years. But nothing announced that if we go back 200 years.

[dlg127]

Not this fast smarty pants. I know you're not a scientist like some of us but Do you educate yourself on climate change or watch tv?

[organicfilms81]

I don't watch tv

[cattlewrangler]

Thats the trouble people believing everything they hear on tv.

[phantomyshkin]

Great speech! Jeremy Rifkin is brilliant.