User:Mymywg/Environmental impacts of animal agriculture-MW

This is the article I am working on: Environmental impacts of animal agriculture

Article Draft

Paragraphs added Draft 1:

• 1 added to the end of consumption and production trends

• 2 added to the end of food consumption

• 1 added to the end of water pollution

Paragraphs added Draft 2:

• 1 added to the end of aquatic ecosystem
• 1 added to the end of mitigation options

Future add ons:

• in consumption trends --> add development of Africa will reduce population size

Consumption and production trends

Crop field for animal consumption. These fields of land occupy a large amount of surface area in different regions. This reduces the area to grow crops for the local people native to these regions for their consumption.

The Neo-Malthusian concept proposes that with population growth, there will be an increased demand for food supplies, which leads to the inability to sustain a healthy population. The rate of human population growth is outpacing that of the food supply, which is growing at a slower pace. Mohan Roa suggests that if the world's population exceeds the threshold of the amount of food needed to sustain it, there is a risk of famine. Yet, reducing the birth rate among humans could prevent a significant impact on the global food supply. In 1952, India launched an official family planning program to reduce the population growth rate, which promoted the use of IUDs, vasectomies, and female sterilization.

Resource Use

Food consumption

Major corporations purchase land in different developing nations in Latin America and Asia to support large-scale production of animal feed crops, mainly corn and soybeans. However, this practice reduces the amount of land available for growing crops that are fit for human consumption in these countries, putting the local population at risk of food security.

According to a study conducted by Zhihoa Zheng in Jiangsu, China, individuals with higher incomes tend to consume more food than those with lower incomes and larger families. Consequently, it is unlikely those employed in animal feed production in these regions do not consume the animals that eat the crops they produce. The lack of space for growing crops for consumption, coupled with the need to feed larger families, only exacerbates their food insecurity.

Water pollution

Effective use of fertilizer is crucial to accelerate the growth of animal feed production, which in turn increases the amount of feed available for livestock. However, excess fertilizer can enter water bodies via runoff after rainfall, resulting in eutrophication. The addition of nitrogen and phosphorus can cause the rapid growth of algae, also known as an algae bloom. The reduction of oxygen and nutrients in the water due to the decrease caused by the growth of algae ultimately leads to the death of other species in the ecosystem. This ecological harm has consequences not only for the native animals in the affected water body but also for the water supply for people.

Aquatic Ecosystem

Animal agriculture contributes to global warming, which leads to ocean acidification. This occurs because as carbon emissions increase, a chemical reaction occurs between carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and ocean water, causing seawater acidification. The process is also known as the dissolution of inorganic carbon in seawater. This chemical reaction creates an environment that makes it difficult for calcifying organisms to produce protective shells and causes seagrass overpopulation. A reduction in marine life can have an adverse effect on people’s way of life, since limited sea life may reduce food availability and reduce coastal protection against storms.

Mitigation options

Direct air capture (DAC) is a more expensive solution to mitigate carbon emissions that directly captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Despite its high cost, DAC technology is beneficial because it recycles captured CO2 into various forms like curing cement and carbon fibers. While the current implementation cost of DAC is high, it is predicted that the cost of inaction on climate change will exceed that of DAC implementation. It is expected that DAC costs will decrease in the future, making it an increasingly popular method of mitigating carbon emissions.