What would happen to the Planet if everyone stopped eating meat? It wouldn’t be as good as it looks

Livestock causes as many problems for the environment due to the emission of polluting gases as automobiles do. Therefore, scientists are currently looking for ways to encourage people to reduce meat consumption. It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks about the topic. The thing is, it’s hard to argue against statistics: in 2014 humanity consumed 317 million tons of meat and the number of people on Earth is only increasing. How much space will grazing land need for us to feed ourselves at the end of the 21st century or even before?

O awesome.club found out which areas of our life will be affected in the near future. We consider two options: (1) that humanity continues to eat meat normally or (2) that it stops consuming this product, ending livestock.

There will be major changes in the fauna.

We run the risk of losing not only exotic animals such as snow leopards or panda bears, but also quite common members of the animal kingdom such as flamingos, lions, giraffes and even wolves. We do not list all species that are in danger of extinction. After all, there are many; Humanity occupies more and more space on Earth for livestock. Today, about 1/3 of the entire planet is occupied by pastures. As a result, animals native to these areas are leaving, as they simply don’t have enough space to live. And predators such as lions or wolves are massively extinct, as they threaten livestock.

Some scientists even believe that we are living in the times of the so-called Holocene mass extinction, but we do not realize this. To assess the scale of the facts, just look at the following numbers:

By various estimates, 100 to 1,000 species per million disappear annually; 90% of large fish have disappeared from the oceans due to overexploitation of these animals’ reserves by fishing companies; Only 4% of all living beings on the planet are wild animals.

There is a way to solve the problem, but it is quite difficult. If all of humanity stopped eating meat at oncethe areas destined for livestock would cease to exist, the soil would once again become fertile and wild animals could return to their natural habitats.

Global warming will come faster than expected.

Few people know that around 5% of global carbon dioxide emissions come from livestock. Does it seem little? But 44% of methane (much more polluting) and 53% of nitrogen enter our atmosphere for the same reason. Scientists even organize conferences aimed, among other things, at convincing politicians in different countries that meat production must be urgently reduced. Because without these measures, it will be impossible to stop global warming, that advances rapidly on our Planet.

The world’s water supply will decline significantly.

In 2012, in the United States alone, livestock produced 369 million tons of waste. That’s 13 times more than the garbage produced by the entire US population in the same year;

Livestock waste causes air and water pollution. One of the obvious problems is the high concentration of animals in one place. Large areas can contain tens of thousands of animals. Septic tanks where waste is collected often do not adequately treat sewage. As a result, feces and urine that contain harmful chemicals enter the water table and, of course, pollute the waters.

The condition of the fertile land will deteriorate.

Pasture lands are subject to desertification. This means that the soil can dry out and lack several important substances. In other words, it will not be possible to plant in these places, even less “whimsical” plant species; Due to the fact that humanity continues to increase, it is necessary to expand livestock areas and with this there will be a greater amount of land destroyed.

The photo above shows the State of Arizona, in the USA. From 1947 to 1990 the land was used for livestock. And it was only in 2013 (as you can see from the photos on the left) that the activists took care of the recovery of the soil. And in 2014 (pictured right) there were notable improvements.

Land covered by grass is protected from water and wind, which are the main causes of soil erosion. In addition, grass provides for the decomposition of organic matter and carbon; in other words, it improves the biological activity of the earth.

Grazing can eventually lead to the disappearance of the vegetation cover. The soil degrades and becomes unsuitable for growing any product.

Representative of one of the West Mongolian tribes

Nomadic tribes will disappear. The only way they have to survive is by raising cattle. If humanity decides to abandon meat consumption, these people will have to move to cities. And there, inevitably, they will mix with the local population and lose their cultural identity; The area devoted to growing fruits, vegetables and other plants will have to be dramatically increased. And this also causes damage to the land, since various chemicals are actively used for the production of certain crops. But not everything is so bad, because there are organic fertilizers that can even improve the condition of the soil; Humanity will be doomed to an economic catastrophe. Thousands of livestock farmers will be out of work and a large number of people will lose their income; Wild animals, anyway, will have little space, since most of the former land intended for livestock will be used to plant fruits, vegetables, greens and cereals needed by humans.

In any case, one thing is clear: humanity must take care of the land, flora and fauna. Whether people will stop eating meat is a secondary issue. Although it is obvious that it is necessary to reduce the amount of meat consumed.