Meat and Climate Change

Meat would not generally be something we would consider as connected to climate change.  It's connection is, however, inherent and deserves more airtime in my opinion.  I am not a vegetarian, nor am I advocating vegetarianism as a solution to climate change.
This website details the basics of the connection between agricultural meat production and it's environmental impacts.

Source: Mike Lester, The Rome Tribune

The following is taken from the above website:

Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), or factory farms, are the most rapidly growing system of farm animal production. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 80 percent of growth in the livestock sector now comes from these industrial production systems. CAFOs now account for 72 percent of poultry production, 43 percent of egg production, and 55 percent of pork production worldwide.

But CAFOs produce high levels of waste, use huge amounts of water and land for feed production, contribute to the spread of human and animal diseases, and play a role in biodiversity loss. Farm animal production also contributes to climate change: the industry accounts for an estimated 18 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, including 9 percent of the  carbon dioxide, nearly 40 percent of the methane (a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide), and 65 percent of the nitrous oxide (300 times more potent as carbon dioxide).

These facts demonstrate a much overlooked aspect of greenhouse gas emissions.  As I have mentioned before, the popular phraseology of 'Carbon Footprint' misses the connection between climate change and other non-carbon greenhouse gases.  Anthropogenic sources of other non-carbon greenhouse gases should be explored and critically examined in any climate change discussion.  The fact that meat production is something most people are connected to (in the fact that they are meat consumers), and the fact that meat consumption choices are easy to examine on an individual and household level, makes agricultural methane sources a highly relatable aspect of climate to a person's everyday life.

There are many different sources of greenhouse gases which people can single out as obvious starting points for emission reductions.  There are many different governmental policies that can be put in place to reduce emissions.  Among all of this, it seems that meat production is as good a starting point as any, especially on an individual level.  The facts above demonstrate a tremendous need to regulate how meat is produced.  When grown on a smaller scale in a more human and environmentally friendly way, livestock can be produced with much lower levels of greenhouse gas emissions.  Also, it seems, that a general reduction in meat and animal production consumption on the part of consumers is also an effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The table below demonstrates the greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture in the UK from 1990-2011.

Source: Department of Energy and Climate Change

Source:
Rising Number of Farm Animals Poses Environmental and Public Health Risks, World Watch Institute, http://www.worldwatch.org/rising-number-farm-animals-poses-environmental-and-public-health-risks