Carrington, D. (2023, March 6). Meat, dairy and rice production will bust 1.5C climate target, shows study. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/06/meat-dairy-rice-high-methane-food-production-bust-climate-target-study
In a new study done by Catherine Ivanovich and her team at Columbia University, it has been revealed that emissions arising from the food system, primarily driven by the production of meat, dairy, and rice, are likely to breach the critical 1.5 Celcius global heating threshold alone if left the same. The study suggested that the food industry alone could cause an increase of .7 Celsius which paired with the existing increase of 1 Celsius would break the 1.5 Celsius global heating threshold. The research focused on the key role of methane emissions from high-methane foods like livestock and rice paddies.
This article focuses on an important aspect of environmental science by talking about the complex problem of modern food production. It focuses on the major emissions from the food system specifically the high-methane foods like meat, dairy, and rice. To me the article was surprising. While I’ve always been aware of how major the food industry’s role was in the worsening of climate change I didn’t realize that it alone could cause the breach in the 1.5 Celcisus barrier. That fact is extremely concerning to me cause if a single industry can cause the breach then how challenging is it going to be to stop the food industry aswell as all the others that could lead to the breach. The article gave me great insight into the role of the food industry on climate change as well as shining light on how urgent change really is for the food industry.
Andrew- you’ve got a huge env. topic. Agriculture accounts for the about the same amount of carbon emissions as energy production. Yet, it seems no one is really talking about that. Why do you think this big sector isn’t getting demonized the same way the fossil fuel industry is. If you’re interested there’s a pretty good documentary called Cowspiracy. Check it out.
Nice job with writing this abstract!
I agree, the food industry definitely poses a big threat to the environment, and I think the way people focus on the profits more than what we could do to continue to grow food sustainably. This is a very important topic that I believe should be focused on. I wonder how we could grow food more sustainably in the future?
Thank you for reading. To answer your questions, I think the best way to grow more sustainable foods is to look into alternative ways for growing such as hydroponics. I would say that agriculture isn’t as demonized as it’s harder for people to get behind changing anything about the way we get our food.