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Why a Meat-based Diet is Unsustainable
Livestock production is a major contributor of greenhouse gases, accounting for 18 percent of total anthropogenic emissions, more than the entire transportation sector, which contributes only 13 percent. Beef, in particular, is the largest contributor of greenhouse gases because cows produce enormous amounts of methane and while there is much more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, methane is far more harmful. It turns out that “every molecule of methane is equivalent to 23 molecules of CO2 and of the methane in the atmosphere, nearly all of it is due to livestock”. Cows are responsible for the production of “150 billion gallons of methane per day" pair that with the fact that “methane gas from livestock is 86 times more destructive than carbon dioxide from vehicles” and it is clear that this is a major issue.

Animal agriculture is incredibly water intensive consuming 34 trillion gallons annually. In the U.S. alone it takes 56% of the nations water in order to grow the feed livestock consume. Additionally, it takes “2,500 gallons of water to produce 1 lb of beef, 477 gallons of water to produce 1lb of eggs and 1,000 gallons of water are required to produce 1 gallon of milk”. Not only are massive amounts of water required to produce animal products but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reported that livestock operations are responsible for 70 % of the pollution in rivers and streams in the United States. Contamination due to “runoff of chemicals, silt, and animal waste” has polluted more than 173,000 miles of waterways. Consumption of water for agricultural needs has overwhelmed the current supply of water, causing the depletion of aquifers and underground basins faster than they can recharge. We simply do not have enough water to continue our current practices of food production.Works Cited

Thornton, Philip K. “Livestock production: recent trends, future prospects.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 365.1554 (2010): 2853-2867.

''Before the Flood. Directed by Fisher Stevens, Performances by Leonardo DiCaprio, National Geographic and Ratpac Documentary Films, 2016.''

Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret. Directed by Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn, 2014.

Horrigan, Leo, Robert S. Lawrence, and Polly Walker. “How sustainable agriculture can address the environmental and human health harms of industrial agriculture.” Environmental health perspectives 110.5 (2002): 445.