WAV Comment
Is it not disgusting, or worse, that the worlds appetite for meat could see parts of the Amazon rain forest turned into wastelands within the next 15 years !
The Amazon Rainforest is home to 427 mammal species, 1,300 bird species, 378 species of reptiles, and more than 400 species of amphibians. All are potentially at existence threat due to the ignorant wanting of meat eaters to stuff their faces with dead animals – meat produced by methods currently causing all this rainforest destruction. I am beyond words and anger about this; especially when I hear that the conference on climate change may NOT even be promoting a plant based diet to delegates and attendees !
There is big talk by the UN that the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) being held in Scotland (Glasgow) on 31 October – 12 November 2021 will bring big changes; but we wonder if issues such as food options will even be addressed. After all, the last we heard recently was that a plant based food selection was not even being arranged !
This morning (30/9 21) I have written to the conference now to ask if this is still the case; ie that all delegates will only eat meat (probably from Brazil !), where all the destruction is happening to make (Amazon) animal species extinct, or, if there are now (at last) plant based options for food selection. I have asked for, and expect, a formal reply soon.
The Amazon is one of the greatest places on the planet for species of flora and fauna. To think that a lot of this could be turned into arid savannah and dust within the next 15 years due to meat production is, to me, beyond belief; and is something that the UN needs to address NOW at their meat eating climate change conference in Glasgow in the coming months.
Regards Mark
‘World’s Appetite For Meat’ Driving Amazon Destruction, Says New Campaign
‘Experts predict that deforestation at this rate could turn parts of the Amazon into savannas in just 15 years’
World’s Appetite For Meat Driving Amazon Destruction, Says Campaign (plantbasednews.org)
The world’s appetite for meat is driving the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, according to a new campaign.
Animal-rights charity Mercy For Animals has released a video as part of its Behind The Fires campaign – which reveals the ‘destructive impact of cattle ranching’.
The video, which is narrated by celebrity actor Calum Worthy, shows how the ‘unprecedented’ number of fires that ‘ravaged’ the Brazilian Amazon last year were intentionally ‘set to clear every last plant from deforested areas’.
‘The biggest drivers of climate change’
“Brazil is the world’s largest beef exporter, and its meat production practices have far-reaching consequences,” Worthy states.
“Experts predict that deforestation at this rate could turn parts of the Amazon into savannas in just 15 years. World leaders must take swift and bold action to stop cattle ranching in the amazon and address the greater climate crisis.
“But cattle ranching in the Amazon isn’t the cause of the problem. According to the UN raising animals for food is one of the biggest drivers of climate change and habitat loss globally. Simply put, the meat we consume is burning up our future on this beautiful planet.”
Worthy adds that eating more plant-based foods can play an ‘important role’ in fighting the climate crisis and ‘protecting vital ecosystems’.
Scientists Warn Human Impact On Amazon Rainforest Is ‘Worse Than We Realize’
The rainforest’s climate is ‘changing fast and in alarming ways’, National Geographic claims and this has wide-reaching impacts on the entire planet
The Amazon Rainforest has been linked by scientists as a leading factor of increased global warming, due to deforestation and resource extraction at the hands of humans.
How humans ‘complicate natural cycles’ in the Amazon, such as logging and farming, is not only affecting its capability to absorb CO2, but contributing to global warming, reports National Geographic.
Scientists argue the world’s largest rainforest landscape may ‘release more carbon than they store’ and fear the rainforest is now a net contributor to climate change.
Climate change
Animal agriculture and meat consumption are widely blamed for causing deforestation and fires across the region by scientists and environmentalists worldwide.
The rainforest’s climate is ‘changing fast and in alarming ways’, National Geographic claims and this has wide-reaching impacts on the entire planet.
A recent report assessed the impact of Amazon rainforest destruction over fears it was rapidly approaching ‘tipping point’.
It was conducted by over 30 scientists and published in Frontiers. They looked at the causes behind interference in the Amazon’s capacity to absorb CO2.
Greenhouse gases
‘Activities in the Amazon, both natural and human-caused, can shift the rainforest’s contribution in significant ways’ according to National Geographic.
They can warm the air ‘directly’, or release other greenhouse gases that do. The article lists a range of resource extractions that can alter it. They include damming and soybean production for livestock feed.
Lead author Kristofer Covey told the organization: ‘Cutting the forest is interfering with its carbon uptake; that’s a problem…
‘When you start to look at these other factors alongside CO2, it gets really hard to see how the net effect isn’t that the Amazon as a whole is really warming global climate.’
Human impact on the Amazon Rainforest
Researcher Patrick Megonigal said the impact human activities have on the Amazon is ‘worse than we realize’.
Rising deforestation may alter the ‘flow of moisture’, another research protested in the article. This ‘could lead to the Amazon become a ‘drier woodland savanna’ permanently.
Moreover, humans have ‘diminished’ the rainforest’s capacity for offsetting its natural methane emissions.
Activists urged Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro to halt deforestation. The harmful practice reached an all-time high last year.
Scientists Warn Impact On Amazon Is ‘Worse Than We Realize’ (plantbasednews.org)
World Animals Voice 