Vegetarian Diet for a Healthy Planet Bruce Monger, PhD Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Cornell University October 6, 2015 8:00AM – 9:30AM Vegetarian Diet for a Healthy Planet photo credit: http://bit.ly/1dA4yYn

Disclosure Board Member/Advisory Panel Consultant Employee Bruce Monger Board Member/Advisory Panel - NASA Ocean Color Science Team Member Consultant - None Employee - Cornell University Research Support - NASA Speaker’s Bureau Stock/Shareholder - None. Other

Learning Outcomes Meat Production Increases Nutrient Pollution of Streams, Rivers and the Coastal Ocean Environment Meat Production Puts Increase Demands on Freshwater Resources Meat Production Contributes Significantly to Overall Anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas Emissions Meat Production Adversely Impacts Living Marine Resources At the end of this session, the participant will understand that in addition to being good for your own personal health, a vegetarian diet is also good for the environment

Outline Pollution of Streams, Rivers and the Coastal Ocean Availability of Freshwater Greenhouse Gas Emissions Sustainability of Living Marine Resources

Part 1 Impact of Meat Production on the Pollution of Steams, Rivers and the Coastal Ocean…

National Research Council Report 2000 Plant Nutrients (primarily nitrogen and phosphorous) are the largest pollution problem in the coastal waters of the United States.

Increased nutrient loads in coastal waters stimulates exceptional algal growth. Algal biomass that accumulates in surface waters eventually dies and sinks to the bottom of the water column where microbes consume it and in the process also consume oxygen. http://www.oceanhealthindex.org/Components/Nutrient_Pollution/

Increased fertilizer demand is largely driven by A close connection exists between global increases in nitrogen flux to the coastal environment and global increases in fertilizer consumption Increased fertilizer demand is largely driven by Human population increases Increases in per capita meat consumption A transition to Industrial Farming Practices Increases in corn ethanol production Nitrogen Flux to the Coastal Ocean Fertilizer Consumption https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/01/24-charts-every-leader-should-see/ BRIC Nations = Brazil, Russia, India and China OECD Nations = Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (about 30 democracies)

Increased Meat Production is a Large Driver of Increased Fertilizer Use Large increases in global fertilizer use are driven in part by increases in grain production (e.g., corn and soy) needed to support an ever growing increase in global meat consumption. Growth in global meat consumption is outpacing human population growth because of increases in per capita meat consumption in developing countries. http://na.unep.net/geas/getUNEPPageWithArticleIDScript.php?article_id=92

Tile drains and bare fields in winter aggravate this! The Corn that is grown to feed livestock is a particularly leaky crop for nitrogen…. Tile drains and bare fields in winter aggravate this! Robert Howarth

Leaching from CAFO Manure Ponds shallow retaining lagoon where manure sits before being sprayed on surrounding fields Hog barns (1 site of 9 with 8,832 hogs per site More hog barns and lagoons Aeration basin where manure goes after the lagoon 20 million gallon manure “lagoon” Leaching from CAFO Manure Ponds CAFOs apply liquid animal waste to land, which often leaches into waterways... http://blog.savemaumee.org/category/factory-farms-cafo/

Wastewater and denitrifeid The Societal Switch to Industrial Farming Methods is also an Important Contributor to Increased Fertilizer Pollution Field Level Leached to water Harvested in crops 20% 57% 5% 32% 17% Animal Consumption NH3 10% Wastewater and denitrifeid Human 8% Exported from U.S. 11% 100% Fertilizer Factory (Fossil Carbon Energy Powered) (Robert Howarth et al. 2002)

Mississippi River Watershed Fertilizer that washes off vast cornfields and organic nitrogen and phosphorous that leaches from CAFO manure ponds eventually drains into the Gulf of Mexico http://ookaboo.com/o/pictures/picture.large/25092052/The_Mississippi_River_watershed_drains_i

The EPA reports that more than half of all US rivers are now unsuitable for aquatic life — largely due to nutrient pollution from industrial agricultural practices March 26, 2013

Some Actions That Could Help Change Things…

Eat Less Factory Meat! USA Projected Fertilizer Use with American Diet Change Howarth et al. 2002

Part 2: Impact of Meat Production on Freshwater Use…

Global Demand for Freshwater is Outpacing Human Population Growth… http://bit.ly/1LFCDFm Global Demand for Freshwater is Outpacing Human Population Growth… Demand for freshwater is outpacing population growth because increasing affluence in developing countries leads to increases in per capita demand for meat.

One Third of Earth’s Groundwater Basins Now Under Threat… http://www.livescience.com/51483-groundwater-basins-running-out-of-water.html

The High Freshwater Demand of Meat Production… “A study by Mesfin M. Mekonnen and Arjen Y. Hoekstra (Ecosystems15: 401–415) tells an important story…” Beef has an overall water footprint of roughly four million gallons per ton produced. By contrast, the water footprint for “sugar crops” like sugar beets is about 52,000 gallons per ton; for vegetables it’s 85,000 gallons per ton; and for starchy roots it’s about 102,200 gallons per ton produced. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/08/opinion/meat-makes-the-planet-thirsty.html?_r=0

Switching to a Plant-Based Diet Significantly Lowers Freshwater Demand… “Changing one’s diet to replace 50 percent of animal products with edible plants like legumes, nuts and tubers results in a 30 percent reduction in an individual’s food-related water footprint.” “Going vegetarian, a better option in many respects, reduces that water footprint by almost 60 percent.” “It’s seductive to think that we can continue along our carnivorous route, even in this era of climate instability. The environmental impact of cattle in California, however, reminds us how mistaken this idea is coming to seem.” http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/08/opinion/meat-makes-the-planet-thirsty.html?_r=0

Part 3: Impact of Meat Production on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Greenhouse Gas Production From Meat Production Methane Release ruminant digestion manure decomposition Carbon dioxide release deforestation for agricultural land use Nitrous oxide release crops subjected to heavy fertilizer

Relative Contribution of Livestock Production to Overall Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions An FAO report published in 2006 titled Livestock's Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options is generally regarded as the starting point for most discussions of livestock’s contributions to total GHG emissions. The FAO report estimates that livestock contributes 18% to total annual GHG emission. http://bit.ly/1gCIHQE Other groups have taken a broader accounting of GHG emissions that include contributions from land changes needed for livestock development. A World Watch Institute report estimates the overall contribution by livestock, that includes things like land use changes, is 51% to total annual GHG emission. http://bit.ly/1u1iVeb. Robert Goodland provides a nice discussion in a New York Times article of emissions accounting http://nyti.ms/1Jjxm2X

UN Calls For a Global Reduction in Meat and Dairy Consumption An increasing understanding of the significant contribution that meat production has on greenhouse gas release, combined with projected increased in human population, has prompted the United Nation Environmental Program (UNEP) to call for efforts to move humanity toward a meat- and dairy-free diet. http://bit.ly/KglUeW

Producing Enough Food to Feed a Hungry Planet With a warming planet, and increased heat-stress to crops, we may no longer be able to grow enough crops to have the “luxury” of feeding them to livestock animals.

Part 4: Impact of Meat Production on Living Marine Resources…

Overfishing The overfishing problem we see today is primarily the result of a dramatic shift to industrialized fishing operations that are run by large corporate holding companies that have little concern for conservation…

90% Decline in the Top Predator Fish Abundance in the World Oceans between between 1955 and 2000 Each graph depicts the number of top predator fish (e.g., tuna & swordfish) caught per 100 hooks set by the global fishing fleet This is a good proxy indicator for fish abundance Myers and Worm (2003) NATURE: 423: 280-283 Redrawn by Oceana

Global Fish Production 1950−2010 Overall wild captured biomass has leveled off since the 1990s at about 85 million tons. According to the FAO, 82% of all the major ocean fisheries are either at their limits or are overfished One of the most striking trends of the past two decades has been the rise of aquaculture, which now provides about 46% of global fish production

Main Concerns About Aquaculture…. Eutrophication of coastal waters Large reliance on catches of lower trophic level wild fish populations called forage fish (e.g, sardine and herring) to use as fishmeal for farmed fish these fish are a natural food source for all sorts of consumers in the marine ecosystem (e.g., seabirds, large predator fish, marine mammals) Increased occurrence of diseases Loss of genetic diversity of wild versions of the same species

To Put Everything into Perspective… UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Summary Points

UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Summary Points Humans have made unprecedented changes to ecosystems in recent decades to meet growing demands for food, fresh water, fiber, and energy These changes have weakened nature’s ability to deliver other key services such as purification of air and water protection from disasters the provision of medicines Among the outstanding problems identified by this assessment are the dire state of many of the world’s fish stocks the intense vulnerability of the 2 billion people living in dry regions to the loss of ecosystem services including water supply the growing threat to ecosystems from climate change and nutrient pollution Human activities have taken the planet to the edge of a massive wave of species extinctions, further threatening our own well-being and the well-being of all future generations The pressures on ecosystems will increase globally in coming decades unless human attitudes and actions change

In Summary… Switching to a Vegetarian Diet Will Have The Following Positive Impacts on the Global Environment… Decrease Nutrient Pollution of Streams, Rivers and the Coastal Ocean Conserve the Availability of Freshwater Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions Improve the State of Living Marine Resources in Our Oceans