{"id":174,"date":"2020-12-01T07:06:18","date_gmt":"2020-12-01T07:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevegandragon.com\/?page_id=174"},"modified":"2023-10-10T07:42:25","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T07:42:25","slug":"human-starvation-climate-change-and-pollution","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thevegandragon.com\/index.php\/educational-journals\/human-starvation-climate-change-and-pollution\/","title":{"rendered":"Human Starvation, Climate Change, and Pollution"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Ga-Maleven<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this journal I will be discussing how animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, pollution, climate change, human starvation, and species extinction. I won’t be discussing how human<\/a>s<\/a> are herbivorous and simply don’t need animal products<\/a><\/span>.

While human overpopulation<\/a><\/span> is a major factor of pollution, deforestation, and climate change, its effects are still less than that of animal agriculture. Animal agriculture is the use of producing billions of animals for food, clothing, etc. on a mass scale. This includes raising animals for their flesh (meat), mammary secretions (milk)<\/a><\/span>, menstrual cycles (eggs)<\/a><\/span>, and even clothing (leather, fur, wool, etc.)<\/a><\/span>. But why is it so bad?

The primary reason animal agriculture is devastating the planet is due to the astronomical amount of resources it requires to raise livestock. On average a single cow consumes about 20 pounds of grain a day and drinks up to 30 gallons a day<\/a><\/span>. Cows are kept alive 3-5 years on average (despite living to be 20). In 4 years time one cow will have consumed about 21,900 pounds of grain and drunk about 43,400 gallons of water. This will only produce about 490 pounds of meat. There are 98.4 million bovines raised for dairy\/meat in the USA alone.

On top of that, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and other animals raised for their flesh also consume\/drink thousands of pounds\/gallons yearly only top produce even less “food” for consumption. Of the 760 million tons of grain ground yearly to feed livestock, if that were to instead be given to humans it would end world hunger 14 times over<\/strong><\/em>.

The land used to grow the crops for these animals is taken from the wildlife. Millions of acres are cleared for animal agriculture each year (1-2 every second). Forests are destroyed and cattle are grazed in grasslands expediting desertification. 45% of the Earth’s total landmass is now used for livestock. 91% of the Amazon’s destruction is due to animal agriculture. Taking this land away from wildlife and destroying the forests is the leading cause of species extinction. Wildlife is having to seek new land to live on, but they are running out of space, being forced to interact with humans and domesticated animals more. While hunting is causing extinctions<\/a><\/span>, its impact is still less than that of the destruction caused by animal agriculture.

Most of the grain grown for these animals come from developing countries. While the grain is shipped off to fatten livestock for rich countries to get sick off of, the poor people end up starving. This has led to being the primary cause of human starvation. Raising animals for food in these poor countries also harms the people for they have to give their food to the animal until the animal can be killed, which yields less food in the end. This is why gifting animals to poor countries does more harm than good<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n