Reducing "Meat Consumption" Decreases The Effects of "Global Warming"

"Cutting world meat consumption by 10 percent would significantly slow down the impact of global warming, a new research has found.

Writing in the latest edition of medical health journal The Lancet, the scientists advised people in rich countries to limit their meat consumption to the equivalent of one hamburger per person per day to help reduce global warming.

"Worldwide, agricultural activity, especially livestock production, accounts for about a fifth of total greenhouse-gas emissions, thus contributing to climate change and its adverse health consequences, including the threat to food yields in many regions," write the authors.

Researchers believe that cutting global red meat consumption from an average of 100g per person per day to 90g would cut the gases emitted by cows, sheep and goats that contribute to global warming.

"Particular policy attention should be paid to the health risks posed by the rapid worldwide growth in meat consumption, both by exacerbating climate change and by directly contributing to certain diseases," the study added.

Nearly 22 percent of the planet's total emissions of greenhouse gases come from agriculture. Livestock production, including transport of livestock and feed, account for nearly 80 percent of agricultural emissions, mainly in the form of methane, a potent heat-trapping gas.

"A substantial contract in meat consumption in high-income countries should benefit health, mainly by reducing the risk of ... heart disease... obesity, colorectal cancer and, perhaps some other cancers," the research said.

"An increase in the consumption of animal products in low-intake populations, towards the proposed global mean figure, should also benefit health," the study added."

The United Nations Calling For Action Against Global Warming

"United Nations has called for action to tackle both global warming and its affects such as the increasing vulnerability of agriculture which places developing countries at risk.

"Abnormal changes in air temperature and rainfall and the increasing frequency and intensity of drought and floods have long-term implications for the viability and productivity of world agro-ecosystems," UN Food and Agriculture Organisation Assistant Director General Alexander Miller said.

"FAO is already actively assisting its members, particularly developing countries, to enhance their capacity to confront the negative impacts of climate change on agriculture, forests and fisheries," Miller said.

This involves providing creative solutions and alternative approaches, such as introducing crop varieties that can tolerate heat and water stress, he said, calling for greater attention to forecasting extreme events and trends by collecting data and developing tools to produce on-hand information for adapting countries' agriculture.

Ways must be found to build up the resilience of people and of food production systems, he said told over 140 world experts meeting in Rome for a workshop on Adaptation Planning and Strategies.

He said developing countries, which are highly dependent on agriculture and have fewer resources and options to combat damage from climate change are at risk.

In the short term, as the global average temperature rises 1 to 3 degree Celsius, industrialised countries may well gain in food production potential, but at lower latitudes crop potential will most probably decline even with a minimal rise in global temperature, according to FAO."