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Beef is like 2 % of humanity's emissions. Gasoline-based transportation and electricity (mostly from coal power plants) are together like 60 %. It's obvious wh

by glogla 7y ago

Beef is like 2 % of humanity's emissions. Gasoline-based transportation and electricity (mostly from coal power plants) are together like 60 %. It's obvious which one we need to focus on. Stop it with the beef already. We need data driven approach. We really really don't need hysteria based approach where something (like beef) is declared sinful. (see https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emis...)

kdmccormick 7y ago
Regardless of emissions, beef production is contributing to this specific problem. From the article: > Much of the deforestation binge is being driven by farming pressure: The Amazon basin is the largest exporter of beef in the world, with about 200 million heads of cattle. And all those cows need a lot of space to spread out. Did you not read before telling us we need a "data-driven approach"?
adrianN 7y ago
Beef is a large part of the reason why the Amazon is cleared for land.
prawn 7y ago
Isn't that more relevant to a general climate argument than one about the world's ecological heartland being cleared with fire to raise cattle? And as an individual, isn't it possible to make small steps without huge sacrifices on both fronts?
jdietrich 7y ago
>Beef is like 2 % of humanity's emissions. Methane emissions from beef cattle account for about 2% of GHG potential. Tropical deforestation contributes to about 10% of our climate impact, most of which is driven by beef farming. There are also significant non-climate impacts of deforestation in terms of biodiversity. Beef is a big deal. It's not the biggest deal, but it's one of many things we need to address. Electricity generation and transport are being rapidly decarbonized thanks to new technology, but there's no technological replacement for old-growth rainforest. We can generate electricity with PV panels, we can run a car or a ship on batteries, but we don't have any sustainable option for things like jet aviation and beef; for the foreseeable future, the only option is to drastically reduce our consumption. https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/stop-deforestation/beef-deforestation-scorecard https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/stop-deforestation/bee...

by glogla 7y ago

kdmccormick 7y ago

Regardless of emissions, beef production is contributing to this specific problem. From the article: > Much of the deforestation binge is being driven by farming pressure: The Amazon basin is the largest exporter of beef in the world, with about 200 million heads of cattle. And all those cows need a lot of space to spread out. Did you not read before telling us we need a "data-driven approach"?

adrianN 7y ago

Beef is a large part of the reason why the Amazon is cleared for land.

prawn 7y ago

Isn't that more relevant to a general climate argument than one about the world's ecological heartland being cleared with fire to raise cattle? And as an individual, isn't it possible to make small steps without huge sacrifices on both fronts?

jdietrich 7y ago

>Beef is like 2 % of humanity's emissions. Methane emissions from beef cattle account for about 2% of GHG potential. Tropical deforestation contributes to about 10% of our climate impact, most of which is driven by beef farming. There are also significant non-climate impacts of deforestation in terms of biodiversity. Beef is a big deal. It's not the biggest deal, but it's one of many things we need to address. Electricity generation and transport are being rapidly decarbonized thanks to new technology, but there's no technological replacement for old-growth rainforest. We can generate electricity with PV panels, we can run a car or a ship on batteries, but we don't have any sustainable option for things like jet aviation and beef; for the foreseeable future, the only option is to drastically reduce our consumption. https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/stop-deforestation/beef-deforestation-scorecard https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/stop-deforestation/bee...