Beef Consumption Reduction And Climate Change Mitigation

Researchers believe that greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from livestock are an emerging problem. Beef cattle is one of the most emission-intensive sectors, which is responsible for 54% of total GHGs from livestock. This study has two purposes. First, we quantify the environmental loading of U.S. beef sector by calculating emission levels over the period 1970-2014. Following Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guideline, we identify three sources of emissions, including enteric fermentation, manure management, and manure left on pastures. Second, we provide an understanding of consumption-environmental connection related to the beef industry. We used Tire 1 method calculations in this study. This method will provide the basic information for establishing policies to mitigate climate change. We encourage to use Tire 2 method in future studies. It is also recommended to see the impact of changing geographical locations of cattle farm to the regions that have lower emission factors in future studies. It t is concluded that providing information to the public regarding livestock and climate change relationship would be beneficial. Media attention is needed to convey this message to the public that eating more meat is environmentally detrimental, and we need to change our diet to confine GHG emissions. This knowledge might help develop schemes to avoid the catastrophic climate change consequences in the future.