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OCEANS AND OVER FISHING

Animal agriculture is a prominent issue destroying the ocean; from pollution to overfishing the oceans are being emptied because over half the animals caught are not the desired fish and considered ‘collateral damage’. Ocean Fishing can be included as animal agriculture, as it is the capture of tremendous amounts of fish for human consumption. Nets and cages are used to catch fish, but many other sea creatures are caught as well; For every 1 pound of fish caught, up to 5 pounds of unintended marine species are caught and discarded as by-kill. The ecosystem of the ocean is delicate and important to maintain life on earth. The marine plants are estimated to produce half of all oxygen and the clean ocean water is the largest part of the water cycle. (Cowspiracy). Ocean life is a sustainable atmosphere completely different from that on land, but with 90-100 million tons of fish being pulled from the oceans each year it can not sustain itself. For each ton of fish one must assume there is one or more ton of other marine life which amounts to an absolute minimum of 200 million tons of marine life removed from the ocean a year.

    Greenhouse gasses and carbon emissions are commonly known to be caused by car exhaust and use of fossil fuels, but the majority of greenhouse gases originate from animal agriculture. Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are the main components of greenhouse gasses all of which are caused by a variety of human activities and some of which are contributed to by animal agriculture. 

    A large source of methane comes from the manure and digestion of farm animals. The vast amounts of waste are collected and kept in lagoons or holding tanks where they sit and produce more methane gasses.              Another large contribution to greenhouse gasses, particularly nitrous oxide, is the fertilizer used to grow corn and other foods for livestock. Nitrogen in the fertilizer breaks down and nitrous oxide is released; agriculture accounts for seventy nine percent of united states nitrogen oxide emissions(EPA). 

    Combined,“Animal agriculture is the source of 51% of all greenhouse gasses” (Cowspiracy). Worldwide the process of raising and feeding a variety of animals for meat and dairy causes about half of greenhouse emissions. This is significantly more than what comes from automobiles. One pound of beef generates the equivalent of over 36 pounds of carbon dioxide. The current process of raising massive amounts of animals for meat and dairy pollutes the atmosphere both directly and indirectly through food and waste production. 

Deforestation 

A year without paper saves 8 trees. A year without beef saves 3,432 trees. Animal agriculture contributes significantly to deforestation because of the massive amounts of land needed to raise and feed farm animals. 

Compared to various diets veganism requires significantly less land per person per year to be fully fed. the current rate of deforestation is unsustainable; the forests will run out and we will be stuck with no trees and no usable land. adapting to a diet which destroys less forest is necessary for a sustainable world. 

There is an abundance of plant based food on this planet yet humans die of starvation every day. There is enough food grown today to feed 10 billion people. If the food grown and fed to the 70 billion factory farmed animals raised each year, was used instead as direct meals for third world countries starvation would be eradicated. 

It takes about 2400 gallons of water to produce one pound of meat. It takes 25 gallons of water to produce one pound of wheat. Think about it, the animal you are eating had to drink to survive, he had to eat food which was grown with water for the purpose of feeding your food. The meat from that animal had to be cleaned, processed, and transported; using more water. Half of US water use goes towards animal agriculture: Want to make a difference? Leave Meat off your plate.