Deforestation is a policy not a mistake and
the profits from livestock are the driving
force behind it.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA,
2005) estimates that species are disappearing
100 to 1,000 times faster than should be
expected on the basis of fossil records. It
believes that one-third of all amphibians, a
fifth of mammals and one-eighth of all birds
are now threatened with extinction.
Valuable sources of sustainable timber, food,
clothing and potential medicines are being
eliminated and essential contributions to
recycling of nutrients, pollination, seed
dispersal, climate control and purification of
air and water are being trashed without a
second thought. This is much more than
Overuse of Fresh Water
simply a moral issue.
Only 2.5 per cent of all water on the planet is Agriculture is the biggest user of fresh water,
fresh and 70 per cent of this is locked up in demanding 70 per cent of all that is available
glaciers and permanent snow. It was a slow while in many third world countries the
process of summer melt and winter renewal figure is as high as 85 to 95 per cent.
that fed rivers and aquifers the world over.
With global warming, glaciers are melting at
an unprecedented rate and the water is Water, wheat
simply running into the sea.
and beef
Currently, more than 2.3 billion people in 21 All farming needs water but the amount of water
countries live in areas which are classified as needed to produce a pound of beef is far greater
‘water stressed’ while a further 1.7 billion live than that required for a pound of wheat.
in areas of scarcity. More than one billion
people have little access to clean water. It is in Amount of water required to produce 2.2 pounds
these areas where most agricultural expansion of wheat: 2,113 pints (1kg of wheat: 1,000 litres)
and population growth are taking place and
64 per cent of the world’s population will live
in ‘water stressed’ areas by 2025.
An International Water Management Institute
assessment in 2000 estimated that one-third of
the world’s population will live in areas of
‘absolute water scarcity’. These include Pakistan, Amount of water required to produce 2.2 pounds of
South Africa and large parts of China and India. beef: 211,000 pints (1kg of beef: 100,000 litres)
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