The link between population, meat consumption and global warming

Image courtesy of the Daily Telegraph - Read more about this experiment

One of the more interesting facts to come out of my recent personal research into the benefits of having a vegan lifestyle is the impact that a major shift in consumption can have on the planet in terms of global warming.

Meat production seems to be one of the key catastrophic contributory factors in the increasing CO2 emissions globally, of course we all consider cows farting etc - which is the main urban myth spread about the farming industry - but there is a lot more to consider than the comedic vision of a cow filling an enormous balloon of CO2 during its life.

Although this is a massive contributing factor, consider all the industry, transport, staff and workers required in the entire process of getting the meat to your table.

Farming involves a lot of industry and embodied energy put into the process of rearing the animal, shipping the grain to feed it, keep it warm in its stall etc, and ultimately of course shipping the meat across international boundaries in its packaging to the supermarket after slaughter.

Hasn't this gone on for centuries I hear you say.

Well, it did, but in a small way. The "Oil age" created a massive increase in population, which meant that more food had to be produced, and we are now reeling ecologically from the effects of our own success on this planet as a result of that black gold.

How oil production (in orange) affected Human population - which

The real issue now is one of volume, the human population has now risen to unsustainable levels, and at the moment those mouths are being fed at the cost of our children's futures.

Pretty Ironic isn't it, that feeding the children of today in their ever increasing masses will ultimately destroy the climate they will inherit.

Suprisingly Lamb production is the highest in terms of emissions

The Daily Telegraph says: "A Government-sponsored study into greenhouse gases has found that producing 2.2lbs of lamb was the equivalent of releasing 37lbs of carbon dioxide.

Lamb produces so much carbon dioxide because sheep belch so much methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas. Cows are also damaging, releasing the equivalent of 35lbs of CO2 per 2.2lbs. Previous studies have shown that a herd of 200 cows can produce annual emissions of methane - roughly equivalent to driving a family car more than 100,000 miles on more than four gallons of petrol."

The article compares this with vegetable production: "Other foods such as tomatoes only produce 20lbs of CO2 while potatoes release about 1lb of CO2 for each 2.2lbs of food."

We can't blame farmers really, they are just businessmen out to make a living and a profit for a commodity which is in demand - but think about this for a moment.

Considering all these details, the ever increasing population, scarcity of quality arable land which is being pumped full of oil based fertilizers and insecticides  and the horrors of GM crops upsetting the balance of our food-chain, cruelty to livestock, the reality of all these factors starts to stimulate your mind into considering the "end-game" - i.e. where and when will this end?

As with any set of figures and numbers, for any commodity like "peak-oil" there has to be a boom and a bust. And like the doomsday prophecies of oil supplies dwindling due to difficulties in cost of production and a lack of resources - its reasonable to consider that the same pattern will ultimately apply to population and food production, and costs eventually will collapse the industry. Of course amongst these stories of doom are the dwindling of hope for a gradual change in people's eating habits, which ultimately could solve the whole issue in a far less catastrophic way.

There is always a danger of considering the worst-case scenario, but my faith in humans is alas pretty dismal. Lets face it - historically and financially - mankind moves and acts en-masse, resulting in boom-bust cycles, stock market crashes and other industrial collapses caused by "panic".

So the reality of food production costs being hit by the rising cost of our dwindling oil supplies could ultimately cause mass starvation if things go on - remember that human beings are not party to the sudden price variations of the stock market - a human lives for a long time, so those mouths remain needing to be fed, even if the cost of feeding them skyrockets. This end-game could perhaps be what brings the western world to its knees civilzation wise, and would be something that could finally put an end to the increasing rise of population, imagine the effects food riots would have on those people hungry enough to have strength remaining.

So its not impossible to consider that the whole house of cards we base the western lifestyle on is actually based on oil - without oil, we would not have such a large population - and similarly its loss will have a measurable effect on the world - and like the satellite financial effects of the recession on the price of holiday homes in Spain - even the "developing world" would be affected by rising oil costs as it would suddenly make food production less profitable, which would tip the economic imbalance between countries making exports less appealing.

I've often wondered if the whole economic crash was caused by oil's future becoming uncertain - if you look at all the statistics there do seem to be a lot of similarities in date with "peak oil" and the economic collapse of 2008-2013. Were key investors holding the world's wealth responsible for shifting their money around when it became clear that the western way of life was under threat in the long term?

Commercial and monetary factors like this do have the ability to instill hope for a gradual change for the better - I've always considered that the earth's only salvation against the virus of mankind is an asteroid in the face. I have to hope that mankind can survive and change, and start using some common sense.

One of my friends recently balked at my implication of mankind being better reverting back to the stone-age - his opinion is of mankind being a superior being, powerful and mighty and able to strive through the use of technology for a better future. I wish I had that much faith in humans - The great experiment of Communism failed due to human greed - so that isn't even an option for the 21st Century.

My own personal view is that the solution to this is that we need to return to a more agrarian lifestyle, buy and grow local foods and shed the conceptual desire of the consumer lifestyle that has become so "essential" since the 1950s.

Technology has brought us a lot of things, but like the tale of Frankenstein, has it really done our species a favour? Living in balance with the world would seem to be mankind's salvation - and it would seem that simpler civilizations had it right, such as the Native Americans, who respected nature, the land and the gifts that it provided, rather than pludering and profiteering our natural resources of this planet - thats what went wrong, and ultimately is what led to the explosive population growth of the 20th Century.

Its easy to start distancing yourself from the problems facing the world. "Its not my problem", "What can I do to change things" and other excuses, but think about it for a moment - all of this is driven by the western commercial world... and that really is the key to changing the industry.

A Farmer hits back. Business should really be like evolution, it needs to change and adapt to survive!

This Australian farmer's view of course is pretty simplistic, Farming needs to adapt to survive, like any organism in an eco-system it needs to change accordingly.

In the enlightenment that was the "horse-meat" scandal of 2013, its not difficult to see the result of public knowledge and industry practices being exposed.

Aside from all the climate issues and trust issues with the meat industry - changing your diet to a raw food diet or vegan lifestyle has many health benefits that speak for themselves.

Consider this:
1) How many fat unhealthy vegans and vegetarians do you know?
2) How many overweight people live to a ripe old age?

You can start making a difference yourself. If you don't feel ready to take the plunge and go vegan or vegetarian, then why not just try eating less meat - take baby steps until you feel ready to take a stand like my partner and I have.

Every meal you have without meat makes a difference. 

Make a change.