Finally people in the right places are starting to take notice of the world’s biggest polluter, livestock grown for meat consumption. I fear the industry will do its utmost to preserve itself, however, taking us down with them. They don’t realise that they aren’t going to have many customers to sell to in a few years.

According to the U.N. report, the livestock sector internationally generates 18 percent more greenhouse gas emissions, as measured in carbon dioxide equivalent, than the transport sector.

Furthermore, the livestock sector also damages the ecosystem, as it is a major contributor to land and water degradation. And the problem is expected to get worse. The U.N. noted that global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tons in 1999 to 465 million tons by 2050.

The livestock sector now uses 30 percent of the Earth’s land surface. Most of the use consists of permanent pastures. But 33 percent of the global arable land is now used to produce livestock feed, the report said. One result is deforestation, as old-growth forests that absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide are cleared to create new grazing areas.

In Latin America, some 70 percent of forests in the Amazon region have been turned over to grazing, the U.N. said.

The livestock sector accounts for 9 percent of carbon dioxide deriving from human-related activities and 65 percent of human-related nitrous oxide, which has 296 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. Most of this comes from manure.

The sector is also responsible for 37 percent of all human-induced methane, which is produced largely by the digestive system of ruminants, and 64 percent of all human-induced ammonia, which contributes significantly to acid rain, the report added.