80% of the world’s soya production is fed to the livestock industry.
Source: Eating Up The Amazon, Greenpeace (PDF)
Date: April 2006
Archive for ‘Deforestation’
80% of world’s soya is fed to livestock
Climate ChangeSoybean production doubled between 1994-2004 due to meat’s demand
Monday, February 15th, 2010
Between 1994 and 2004, land area devoted to growing soybeans in Latin America more than doubled to 39 million ha, making it the largest area for a single crop, far above maize, which ranks second at 28 million ha. This trend has been driven mainly by the sharp increase in demand for livestock products, which led to a tripling of global meat production between 1980 and 2002. Most of this increased production came from large-scale, intensive livestock operations in China and other East Asian countries, where land scarcity has led producers to rely increasingly on imported feed.
Source: FAO Livestock Policy Brief 03 “Cattle ranching and deforestation” (PDF)
Date: NA
Deforestation both cause and result of global warming
Monday, February 15th, 2010
Deforestation and forest degradation are both a cause and a result of climate change. Plants absorb carbon dioxide and use it to grow, but when they decay or burn the carbon dioxide is released again. Decaying plants also produce methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide.
Source: Deforestation – GreenPeace
Date: NA
1 day deforestation = 8 million people flying from London to New York
Monday, February 15th, 2010
24 hours deforestation releases as much CO2 into the atmosphere as 8 million people flying from London to New York.
Source: Deforestation: The hidden cause of global warming – The Independent, UK
Date: 14 May 2007
18 months to stop deforestation and save the planet
Monday, February 15th, 2010
“We have 18 months to halt deforestation of the rainforests to preserve life on this planet.”
Source: Prince Charles: Eighteen months to stop climate change disaster – Telegraph
Date: 15 May 2008
Soya crops for livestock causes illegal Amazon deforestation
Monday, February 15th, 2010
This illegal clearing of the Amazon was mostly for soya bean crops, which are fed to livestock.
Source:Eating Up The Amazon, Greenpeace (PDF)
Date: April 2006
Amazon’s 2005 Drought Created Huge CO2 Emissions
Friday, March 6th, 2009
OSLO – A 2005 drought in the Amazon rainforest killed trees and released more greenhouse gas than the annual emissions of Europe and Japan, an international study showed on Thursday.
The report said rainforests from Africa to Latin America may speed up global warming if the climate becomes drier this century. Plants soak up heat-trapping carbon dioxide as they grow and release it when they die and rot.
“The Amazon forest was surprisingly sensitive to drought,” said Oliver Phillips, a professor of tropical ecology at Leeds University in England who led the study by 68 scientists.
The experts estimated that the forest had been absorbing 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year on average since the 1980s but lost 3 billion in the 2005 drought, which killed trees and slowed growth.
“The total impact was an extra 5 billion tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. That is more than the annual emissions of Europe and Japan combined,” Phillips said of the study published in the journal Science.
SAVANNAH
Paradoxically, the forest’s accumulation of carbon before 2005 may have been aided by global warming, which improved plant growth.
But the U.N. Climate Panel projected in a 2007 report that rising temperatures may cause more drought and “lead to gradual replacement of tropical forest by savannah” in the eastern Amazon by mid-century.
The study by a group known as RAINFOR said the 2005 drought especially affected soft-wooded species.
“Some species, including some important palm trees, were especially vulnerable,” Peruvian botanist and co-author Abel Monteagudo said in a statement. “Drought threatens biodiversity too.”
Phillips said the expansion of the Amazon’s carbon storage had helped slow global warming since the 1980s.
“Just because we’ve been getting this subsidy doesn’t mean we can count on it for ever,” he said.
Governments have agreed to work out a new U.N. treaty to fight climate change at a meeting in Copenhagen in December. But many countries are wary of agreeing deeper cuts in industrial emissions because of economic recession.
Many nations want measures to slow deforestation to be part of the deal. Deforestation, often by farmers burning forests to clear land, accounts for about 20 percent of emissions from human activities.
Source: Amazon’s 2005 Drought Created Huge CO2 Emissions – Planet Ark
Date: 06 March 2009
Biodiversity
NewsDrought could turn tropical forests from carbon sinks to net carbon emitters
Thursday, March 5th, 2009
Tropical forests like the Amazon, if they do not receive enough rainfall, emit tonnes of carbon dioxide.
The severe 2005 drought in the Amazon triggered by the warming of the North Atlantic released 5 billion tons of carbon dioxide. 100 millimetres (4 inches) of water deficit could trigger a loss of 2.7 tons of aboveground forest carbon per hectare.
Droughts also increase the risk of fires and threaten biodiversity.
Source: Drought threatens the Amazon rainforest as a carbon sink – Monga Bay
Date: 5 March 2009
WaterSaving Morocco’s Maâmora Forest From Overgrazing and Intensive Cattle Breeding
Friday, January 23rd, 2009
Morocco’s Maâmora Forest is in danger.
The vast expanse of oak trees used to make 70 percent of the country’s cork is suffering from overgrazing and intensive cattle breeding.
To stop the gradual disappearance of the forest, alternative economic solutions are being offered to the local population.
Source: Saving Morocco’s Maâmora Forest – euronews
Date: 23 January 2009
| Results 61-69 of overall 69 |
|
Livestock Production and Shorter-Lived Climate Forcers Download |
|
Plant-Based Diets - A solution to our public health crisis Download |
|
Leaders Preserving Our Future - Insights Paper - WPF - November 2010 Download |
|
Maintaining a Climate of Life - Summary Report Download |
|
Livestock's Climate Impact Download |
|
Livestock & Sustainable Food Download |
|
Reducing Shorter-Lived Climate Forcers Through Dietary Change Download |
|
The global cost of biodiversity loss: 14 trillion Euros? - EU Commission (2008) Download |
|
Forests, Fisheries, Agriculture: A Vision for Sustainability (2009) Download |
|
Global Biodiversity Outlook 3 - United Nations (2010) Download |
