For years consumers have been turning vegetarian in fear that consuming meat will increase global warming. However, air quality experts found that eating meat does not reduce global warming.
Cows and pigs are often blamed for contributing to global warming because of the gas they release, how much food they consume and the emissions created from producing meat.
“We certainly can reduce our greenhouse gas production, but not by consuming less meat and milk,” air quality expert, Frank Mitoloehner, said at the University of California-Davis said at a conference at the American Chemical Society in California.
Experts believe that the UN report “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” which first made the claims against meat is inaccurate and distracts people from making changes that will in fact help lower emissions. Mitoloehner admits that those not eating meat are well-intentioned, but the lack of consumption is also hurting the agriculture industry.
“Smarter animal farming, not less farming, will equal less heat,” Mitoloehner said. “Producing less meat and milk will only mean more hunger in poor countries.”
The United States’ biggest contributing factor to global warming is transportation which is attributed to 26 percent of all greenhouse gas emission, and raising cattle and pigs accounts for three percent.
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