If you claim to care about the environment. Go vegan. There is no - TopicsExpress

If you claim to care about the environment. Go vegan. There is no debate. - Animal agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, more than all transportation combined. - Transportation is responsible for 13% of all greenhouse gas emissions. - Livestock and their byproducts actually account for at least 32,000 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, or 51% of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. - Methane is 25-100 times more destructive than CO2. - Methane has a global warming power 86 times that of CO2. - Livestock is responsible for 65% of all emissions of nitrous oxide – a greenhouse gas 296x more destructive than carbon dioxide and which stays in the atmosphere for 150 years. - Fracking (hydraulic fracturing) water use ranges from 70-140 billion gallons annually. - Animal agriculture use ranges from 34-76 trillion gallons of water annually. - Agriculture is responsible for 80-90% of US water consumption. - Growing feed crops for livestock consumes 56% of water in the US. - One hamburger requires 660 gallons of water to produce – the equivalent of 2 months’ worth of showers. - 2,500 gallons of water are needed to produce 1 pound of beef. - 477 gallons of water are required to produce 1 pound of eggs; 900 gallons of water are needed for cheese. - 1,000 gallons of water are required to produce 1 gallon of milk. - 5% of water in the US is used by private homes. - 55% of water in the US is used for animal agriculture. - The meat and dairy industries combined use nearly 1/3 (29%) of all the fresh water in the world today. - Livestock covers 45% of the earth’s total land. - Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction. - Every minute, 7 million pounds of excrement are produced by animals raised for food in the US. (This doesn’t include the animals raised outside of USDA jurisdiction or in backyards, or the billions of fish raised in aquaculture settings in the US.) - 335 million tons of “dry matter” is produced annually by livestock in the US. - A farm with 2,500 dairy cows produces the same amount of waste as a city of 411,000 people. [vi] - 3/4 of the world’s fisheries are exploited. - 90 million tons of fish are pulled from our oceans each year. - For every 1 pound of fish caught, an average of 5 pounds of unintended marine species are caught and discarded as by-kill. [viii] - As many as 40% (63 billion pounds) of fish caught globally every year are discarded. - Scientists estimate as many as 650,000 whales, dolphins and seals are killed every year by fishing vessels. - 100 million tons of fish are caught annually. - Fish catch peaks at 85 million tons. - Animal agriculture is responsible for 91% of Amazon destruction. - 1-2 acres of rainforest are cleared every second. -The leading causes of rainforest destruction are livestock and feedcrops. - 110 plant, animal and insect species are lost every day due to rainforest destruction. - 26 million rainforest acres have been cleared for palm oil production. - 136 million rainforest acres cleared for animal agriculture. - 1,100 activists have been killed in Brazil in the past 20 years. - Cows produce 150 billion gallons of methane per day. - 130 times more animal waste than human waste is produced in the US – 1.4 billion tons from the meat industry annually. 5 tons of animal waste is produced for every person. - 2-5 acres of land are used per cow. - The average American consumes 209 pounds of meat per year. - Nearly half of the contiguous US is devoted to animal agriculture. - 30% of the Earth’s entire land surface is used by the livestock sector. - 1/3 of the planet is desertified due to livestock. - 70 billion farmed animals are reared annually worldwide. More than 6 million animals are killed for food every hour. - Throughout the world, humans drink 5.2 billion gallons of water and eat 21 billion pounds of food each day. - Based on rough averages of 0.75 gallons of water and 3 lbs of food per day. Worldwide, cows drink 45 billion gallons of water and eat 135 billion pounds of food each day. -Based on rough average of 30 gallons of water and 90 lbs of feed per day. Land required to feed 1 person for 1 year: Vegan: 1/6th acre Vegetarian: 3x as much as a vegan Meat Eater: 18x as much as a vegan -1.5 acres can produce 37,000 pounds of plant-based food. -1.5 acres can produce 375 pounds of meat. - A person who follows a vegan diet uses 50% less carbon dioxide, 1/11th oil, 1/13th water, and 1/18th land compared to a meat-eater. - Each day, a person who eats a vegan diet saves 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 sq ft of forested land, 20 lbs CO2 equivalent, and one animal’s life. All sources can be found at: cowspiracy/facts/