What if the key actors in climate change are cows, pigs, and chickens? A new study, published in World Watch Magazine, reveals that the production of meat, dairy, and eggs could be an even larger contributor to global warming than previously believed.
A widely cited 2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Livestock's Long Shadow, estimates that 18 percent of annual worldwide GHG emissions are attributable to cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, camels, pigs, and poultry. But recent analysis by Goodland and Anhang finds that livestock and their byproducts actually account for at least 32.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, or 51 percent of annual worldwide GHG emissions.
