Livestock and Greenhouse Gases - Essay Example

Livestock and Greenhouse Gases s Psychology Department 18th January Introduction The global community and environmental organizations in particular have been raising serious concerns about the effect of human activity on our planet, its ecosystem and climate. The goods and benefits produced by humans and the way they exploit and interact with environment are often likely not only to improve live of society and make it more comfortable, but also to produce a vast impact on the condition of the Earth and disrupt some of its crucial processes and cycles. Thus, one of the key issues disturbing the world is excessive amounts of greenhouse gases and climate change: whereas growing population and globalization stimulate industrial and economic growth, the side effects of it are disturbing in terms of greenhouse gases emission and hence climate change. According to Rust & Rust (2013, p. 255), “climate change and its effects on existence on earth are becoming more and more relevant as physical evidence of change in our climate is beginning to mount”. Among numerous economic areas affecting condition of the atmosphere, agricultural sector is one of rather influential factors. Agriculture is the sector aimed at production of food products and raw materials for other industry branches and employing about 1 billion people all over the world. As far as this sector is crucial for economic well-being, it is present almost in all countries of the world. Thus, due to economic reasons, environmental effect of agriculture is literally unavoidable for each of the countries with agricultural sector. The map presented in the Figure 1 illustrates that almost all the countries are engaged in agricultural activity to certain extent. Agriculture and greenhouse gases With the population growing rapidly, scientists of agricultural sector, demand for products of agricultural sector and particularly of animal origin is increasing worldwide (Webb & Erasmus, 2013, p. 413). Considering growing demand, specialists do their best deploying their scientific knowledge and developed technological means in order to intensify production of food. However, economic growth is connected to volumes of CO2 emissions produced by different industrial and agricultural enterprises. In the recent fifty years, amounts of greenhouse gas emissions in the sectors of forestry, fishery, crops cultivation and other agricultural segments have increased twice and are likely to keep increasing at a fast pace in future. As it is shown in the Figure 2, agricultural sector in the United States accounts for 10% of greenhouse gas emissions (EPA, 2014). On the global scale, agricultural sector incorporating the world’s food system from fertilizers’ production to food packaging is reported to make up one-third of the overall greenhouse gas amount (Gilbert, 2012). According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the UNO, increase of emission amounts in carbon dioxide equivalent has risen critically since 2001, and this increase was triggered to considerable extent by growing production volumes in developing countries. In addition, it should be mentioned that nearly the lion’s share of increase accrues to livestock production, which is preconditioned by dramatic growth of demand. “Global demand is projected to increase by 70 percent to feed a population estimated to reach 9.6 billion by 2050», according to FAO’s report (FAO, 2015). Growing population needs greater amounts of products, which are sources of protein, as they are most likely to prevent hunger. At the same time, gas emissions produced by changes in land-use management and deforestation have decreased. Nevertheless, despite certain global progress achieved in restraining interdependence between economic growth and CO2 emission amounts, the latter still continue to grow and contribute to the negative effect produced on the environment. Rising concentration of greenhouse gases produces harmful impact on global temperature and climate of the Earth, leading to troublesome consequences for ecosystems, populate areas, agriculture, and other types of social and economic activity. The term “greenhouse” gas is referred to a variety of gases emitted into the atmosphere as the result of human activity: nitrogen oxide (N2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), hexafluoride and others. For example, one of the gases, nitrogen oxide, is produced in agricultural activity in many ways including use of various fertilizers, irrigation techniques, soil management policies and burning of residues (e.g. of crops). Livestock production Livestock production makes up a huge segment of agricultural activity in many countries, being focused on production of various types of commodities like food products (meat, milk, cheese etc.), leather, wool, fiber and others from domesticated animals on commercial scale. Steinfeld et al (2006) write in their article: “Livestock production is undertaken in a multitude of ways across the planet, providing a large variety of goods and services, and using different animal species and different sets of resources, in a wide spectrum of agro-ecological and socio-economic conditions”. In other words, livestock production is a very diverse area producing a wide range of products and deploying a great variety of resources. According to this research, consumption and hence demand on livestock food products is interconnected with per capita income levels in various countries. Thus, the recent rapid growth of livestock production is developing countries is related to growth of income in these countries, which enables inclusion of meat, cheese, eggs et al into people’s diet (Steinfeld et al, 2006). Livestock production is now the agricultural sector with the highest pace of growth (Thornton, 2010). Depending on climate, geographic location and other factors, livestock production may focus on different animals and deploy various practices; however, the general set of the latter includes free range farming, organic farming, intensive production and others. The main feature of nowadays’ livestock production methods is extensive use of scientific and technological inventions and benefits in order to minimize people’s involvement into the process of breeding and raising. However, intensification of livestock production is the source of multiple negative environmental effects including massive greenhouse gases emission and climate change. Livestock and greenhouse gases According to data of numerous organizations, livestock production is considered the largest source of greenhouse gas emission in agriculture: Chauhan and Ghosh (2014) state livestock to be responsible for 18% of GHG emitted by the agricultural sector. Thereby, harmful gases emitted within the process of animal-related products’ production account for a considerable share of overall amount of greenhouse gases produced worldwide, and livestock production is reciprocally connected to climate change: livestock contributes to climate change and climate changes affect production of livestock-related products. Two most considerable factors affecting the atmosphere are methane emission and improper manure management and use. Methane emissions Emissions of methane into the atmosphere are proved to make up about a half of the general greenhouse gas amounts produced by the agricultural sector (Reynolds, 2013). In fact, methane emission is a completely natural process related biological peculiarities of bred domestic animals: methane is normally produced and emitted as a part of digestion process. What is typical, methane amounts may vary depending on the type of animals raised. For instance, ruminants and especially cows are considered the most “productive” in terms of methane emissions. According to Singh et al (2012, p.1017), “the process of digestion and metabolism referred to as enteric fermentation causes 2–12% loss of dietary energy as methane (CH4) in ruminants”. As far as ruminants are recognized as the main contributors to methane emissions, the share of methane produced by them in Indian agricultural sector reaches 90% (Chauhan and Ghosh, 2014, p.225). As the digestion side effect, methane production depends on feeding, amount of forage consumed by the livestock and the quality of food (its digestibility). Moreover, characteristics of the animal like its weight, age and species also determine the amount of methane emitted. As an example, an average dairy cow producing from 8 to 10 thousand liters of milk annually also produces from 500 to 700 liters of methane daily. Considering the fact that cow populations in many countries is growing, it is reasonable to conclude that the amounts of methane emitted by a whole farm of cows is great. Manure Manure, the product of digestion, is widely used as a natural fertilizer in crops cultivation. However, when managed improperly or left to decompose right in the field, it might contribute considerably to methane and nitrogen oxide emissions. Moreover, its use is likely to “increase the availability of organic carbon” (Kim et al, 2014). Of course, the amount of manure produced by the cattle has been increasing because of dramatic increase in the number of animals in the recent years. Although manure improves quality and fertility of the soil, its direct use in unprocessed condition is likely to harm the atmosphere with excessive methane emissions. At the same time, with regards to biological nature of manure, the researchers prove that there are differences in the structure and methane amounts between ruminant and non-ruminant cattle (Kim et al, 2014): amount of methane in pigs is considerably lower than that produced by cows. At the same time, methane emission depends on the way of manure storage: as far as manure is given contact with air and oxygen, it will decompose in the right way. However, stored in the holding tanks and lagoons, deprived of natural contact with air, manure is highly likely to produce considerable amounts of methane (CH4). Similar to carbon dioxide, methane emitted both by animals and by their excrement acts in the atmosphere trapping heat with its molecules. Although methane lives less than carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, it reacts with many different chemicals and is thus more efficient in trapping radiation and contributing to global warming. In addition, according to research data, methane has been found to be 33 times more harmful for ozone layer and climate than carbon dioxide (Gray, 2009). Nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (N2O) is one of the three major greenhouse gases produced by livestock production. With the enormous lifetime in the Earth’s atmosphere, N2O is produces strong warming effect. Originally this type of gas in normally present in the atmosphere due to the planet’s nitrogen cycles; however, livestock raising increases its amount dramatically, especially via animals’ waste. In other words, considerable demand on livestock products increases the number of animals greatly, and hence amounts of waste, too. Nitrogen contained in animals’ waste, urine and manure, breaks down releasing nitrous oxide into the atmosphere. Thereby, one should understand that livestock itself has little influence on N2O emissions, because this process is completely natural. However, humans can affect emissions via selecting and producing proper feed and managing waste in an appropriate way. In addition, large numbers of livestock require intensive cultivation of feed, where N fertilizers emitting N2O are applied, too. Carbon dioxide emissions and other effects Production of methane by livestock is among the burning issues of this agricultural sector, while there are other indirect effects associated with livestock production. Thereby, livestock production on industrial and commercial scale needs much energy in order to keep premises the cattle is kept in warm. Power plants are likely to produce energy for many industry branches including livestock production with help of fuel burning. As far as he fuel used in such power plants is often fossil fuel, its combustion is accompanied by emission of carbon dioxide in rather considerable amounts. Only in the U.S. alone, meat production demands about one-third of fossil fuel mined in the country. Another indirect effect produced by livestock on amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is deforestation and hence growing amounts of carbon dioxide. Whereas number of livestock population is constantly rising together with human population and global demand for protein-rich products, greater territories are needed for grazing and for feed production. To grow the amount of crops needed to produce enough feed for the cattle, vast territories have to be used. Naturally, deforestation comes to be an inevitable solution, yet it contributes much to oxygen shortages and growth of carbon dioxide amounts in the atmosphere. Trees in the areas intended for future grasslands are either logged (affecting the usual carbon cycle) or burnt (increasing amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere due to combustion). Ways of mitigation Since the issue of greenhouse effect has been a great concern in the recent years, there are plenty of studies and researches conducted in order to find a plausible solution for greenhouse gases mitigation. Moreover, as far as population and livestock production are expected to rise inevitably, the global community should be ready to prevent grave consequences of the latter for the atmosphere. For the issue of manure management, there is a wide variety of ecologically friendly waste management strategies. Zafari & Kianmehr (2012) consider suitable ways of manure stabilization both for practical and in environmental reasons, stating: “Composting and vermicomposting are two of the best-known processes for the biological stabilization of solid organic wastes”. In other words, one might conclude that special ways of waste management is likely to prevent it from decomposing and emitting methane and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere. Naturally, methane and nitrous oxide emissions from bio-based wastes, unmanaged and left to decompose are pernicious for our planet (Takahashi, 2014, p.210). That’s why there is a highly constructive approach to dealing with this problem – turning waste into a kind of renewable energy source, a kind of biogas – which is likely to reduce CH4 and N2O concentration to minimum (Takahashi, 2012, p.210). Jones et al (2013) support the opinion that “substituting bioenergy for fossil-fuel-based energy —can reduce GHG emissions”. Moreover, reducing amounts of fossil fuel for livestock production is likely to reduce carbon dioxide emissions during its combustion. Better land-use strategies are considered helpful in terms of CO2 emissions reduction, too: adopting wiser land management strategies minimizes need for further deforestation and enables more efficient use of the available grasslands. For methane emissions in digestion process, there is also a variety of possible solutions, from generic selection to modification of the livestock’s diet. As it was mentioned above, people can influence methane emissions via careful selection of forages, picking more digestible ones, adjusting them to types, sizes, and weight of animals. Better feeding, manure and grazing management are likely to improve the situation. Bellarby et al. (2013) suggest mitigating methane emitted in the process of enteric fermentation with help of “lowering cattle numbers via reduced consumption, increasing food conversion” and altering diet regime. Moreover, nitrous oxide emissions could be reduced with help of more ecologically friendly crops cultivation strategies (in our case, feeds cultivation) and reduction of N fertilizers’ use. Conclusion As it can be clearly seen from the data provided in the paper, agricultural sector and livestock production in particular account for a considerable share of greenhouse gases emitted worldwide and this share might even exceed that of industry, because livestock as a principal direction of development for many countries, especially for developing ones. Progress and intensification of production go hand in hand with escalation of environmental threat imposed by huge amounts of methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emitted in the process of production of meat, eggs, dairy products, wool leather and other livestock related commodities. Considering the danger of climate change, scientists have been developing numerous method of GHG mitigation, including transition to biological fuel and renewable energy. However, proposed improvements and alternatives require more expenses and changes in eating habits, diets of both people and animals, and ways of production (which may become more complicated). That is why, the first step towards efficient mitigation of livestock related GHG is realization of danger and readiness to make changes. References BELLARBY, J., TIRADO, R., LEIP, A., WEISS, F., LESSCHEN, J., & SMITH, P. (2013) Livestock greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation potential in Europe. Global Change Biology, 19, 1, pp. 3-18. 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(2013) The effect of production system and management practices on the quality of meat products from ruminant livestock. South African Journal Of Animal Science, 43, 3, pp. 413-423. [Online] Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost. Available from http://www.ebscohost.com/ [Accessed January 21, 2015] ZAFARI, A., & KIANMEHR, M. (2012) Livestock manure management and pelleting. Agricultural Engineering International: CIGR Journal, 14, 3, pp. 78-84. [Online] Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost. Available from http://www.ebscohost.com/ [Accessed January 21, 2015] Read More