Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T17:11:15.997Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

1 - Agriculture Is a Major Driver of Climate Change (and Disease)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 January 2022

Dana Ellis Hunnes
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles
Get access

Summary

Currently 7.8 billion people live on Earth, and by 2100 there will be 11.2 billion. As developing countries urbanize, their populations eat more meat and dairy. But if everyone on Earth eats the amount of animal products that we do in the US and Europe, we will need two Earths to feed us all. We are rapidly cutting down rainforests for agriculture, cattle farming, and palm oil production, which is not sustainable. Chronic diseases (heart disease, diabetes, stroke) are closely related to the foods we eat and are also the most common causes of premature death around the world. To reduce chronic diseases and feed a growing world population, many of us should transition to a healthier and more sustainable, plant-based diet. Additionally, new infectious diseases will be an even greater risk in the coming decades with so many people eating a meat-heavy diet due to increased interactions with wildlife – as we destroy their homes in the forests to grow the many animal products humans want to eat. To prevent both chronic and infectious diseases and agriculturally induced climate change, it is absolutely necessary that we transition to a more environmentally sustainable and healthy diet.

Type
Chapter
Information
Recipe for Survival
What You Can Do to Live a Healthier and More Environmentally Friendly Life
, pp. 5 - 18
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×