Report: Eating less meat has no effect on global warming

Cutting back on consumption of meat and dairy products will not have a major impact in combating global warming. This is the conclusion of a report presented at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco.

Air quality expert Frank Mitloehner, Ph.D., who made the presentation, said accusing livestock production is not only scientifically inaccurate, but also distracts society from embracing effective solutions to global climate change.

He noted that the notion is becoming deeply rooted in efforts to curb global warming, citing campaigns for “Meatless Mondays” and a European campaign, called “Less Meat = Less Heat,” launched in 2009.

“We certainly can reduce our greenhouse-gas production, but not by consuming less meat and milk,” said Mitloehner, who is with the University of California-Davis. “Producing less meat and milk will only mean more hunger in poor countries.”

Smarter farming

The focus of confronting climate change, he said, should be on smarter farming, not less farming. “The developed world should focus on increasing efficient meat production in developing countries where growing populations need more nutritious food. In developing countries, we should adopt more efficient, Western-style farming practices to make more food with less greenhouse gas production,” Mitloehner said.

Developed countries should reduce use of oil and coal for electricity, heating and vehicle fuels. Transportation creates an estimated 26% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the US, whereas raising cattle and pigs for food accounts for about 3%, he said.

Confusion

Mitloehner says confusion over meat and milk’s role in climate change stems from a small section printed in the executive summary of a 2006 United Nations report, “Livestock’s Long Shadow”, reading “The livestock sector is a major player, responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions measured in CO2 (carbon dioxide equivalents). This is a higher share than transport.”

Mitloehner says there is no doubt that livestock are major producers of methane, one of the greenhouse gases. But he faults the methodology of “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” contending that numbers for the livestock sector were calculated differently from transportation.

In the report, the livestock emissions included gases produced by growing animal feed; animals’ digestive emissions; and processing meat and milk into foods.

But the transportation analysis factored in only emissions from fossil fuels burned while driving and not all other transport lifecycle related factors.

“This lopsided analysis is a classical apples-and-oranges analogy that truly confused the issue,” he said.

Source: American Chemical Society. “Eating Less Meat and Dairy Products Won’t Have Major Impact on Global Warming, Export Argues”, ScienceDaily.