Nicholas D. Carter Profile picture
Jul 19, 2018 7 tweets 2 min read Read on X
New #PeerReview: Meat consumption, health, and the environment: science.sciencemag.org/content/361/63…
Key takeaways: "The strongest evidence of a specific adverse effect is the increased risk of colorectal cancer with high intakes of processed meat."
Agriculture uses more freshwater than any other human activity, with nearly one-third globally required for livestock.
"71% of rainforest conversion in South America has been for cattle ranching and a further ~14% for commercial cropping, including
soya for animal feed."
The economics of meat production. #externalities Image
Sounds like the great work @BeyondCarnism is doing. Image
Final takeaway: our decisions are rarely conscious. There are many pervasive influences at hand, and many we can change and shape better as a society. Image

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More from @NicholasDCarter

Nov 10, 2023
There’s major implications for climate accountability & equity if this new GWP* methane metric is adopted.

New report by me & @changingmarkets analyzing methane (via GWP*) & manipulation by meat & dairy lobbies.


🧵what if NZ, Tyson, & Fonterra used it? changingmarkets.org/wp-content/upl…
Massive increases in farmed animal numbers have led to a 332% increase in methane emissions from them from 1890-2014.


We need to be measuring methane (relative to CO2) with BOTH the warming impact of absolute emissions and the changes in over time. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gc…
Image
Yet GWP* mostly hides the impact of baseline absolute emissions as if it didn’t contributed to warming.

The left graph needs to be transparent for every polluter.

GWP* mostly shows the difference between marginal and additional warming, as shown on the right graph: Figure: Additional vs. Marginal Warming. Graphs from the IPCC Workshop by Andy Reisinger, Vice-Chair WGIII titled ‘ GHG emission metrics: Findings from WGIII’ on June 7, 2023. Based on Chapter 2, Figure 2.SM.9 (extract).
Read 14 tweets
Jan 15, 2023
Big oil is joining in on the regenerative ranching scam.

🛢️🥩

Very little would be worse for the environment than if these partnerships are taken seriously and we delay action on the many real solutions.

🧵& receipts: ImageImageImageImage
Oil & gas companies are of course throwing funds at anything that claims to drawdown carbon (see: CCS).

But the ability for oil and gas to benefit from the bucolic nonsense of ranching is dangerous. Paul, Carsten, et al. "...
Carbon market schemes are allowing the highest polluters (ie. these many oil and gas companies) to make sketchy carbon offset goals with little guarantees of even medium term storage permanence. The time-limited nature is especially the case with ag:

sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
Read 6 tweets
Aug 13, 2022
Methane digesters, propped up by the latest US CH4 reduction plan, rewards industrial dairy, beef & pig operations to produce more manure, usually by increasing # of animals farmed, net increasing CH4, & likely land use & resource use.

🧵 on why this is all a terrible plan: Dairy digester in California. 
These digesters are expensive, and much like the dairy industry now, largely wouldn't exist without subsidies.

In this case incentives for anaerobic digesters include property tax reductions, corporate tax credits, loan programs, & grant programs.

@ALDF There are now 260 anaerobic digesters operating on America's
While some methane can be captured, the issues far outweigh any benefit, especially if it just increases factory farming and delays decarbonization. It's also been shown to increase the amount of ammonia and nitrogen that can leak into waterways.

southernenvironment.org/wp-content/upl…
Read 6 tweets
Jun 6, 2022
"The livestock sector is currently the single major driver of habitat loss and degradation, which is in its turn a leading cause of species decline and extinction worldwide."

Important study + 🧵thread on this main driver of biodiversity loss:

sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
"The production of livestock alters natural habitats not only via land-use change, but also through its outputs of agrochemicals, nutrients, sediments, antibiotics and hormones into natural environments."
"The multiple, synergetic, and ubiquitous past and present processes by which human carnivory threatens the world's biodiversity makes it arguably the most detrimental aspect of our ecology, from a conservation point-of-view."

#WorldEnvironmentDay
sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
Read 7 tweets
Jul 4, 2021
Rewilding and allowing native grasses and animals to thrive again has huge ecological benefits. 🧵/1

@WilliamJRipple's et al. measurements as documented in 'Rewilding a Mountain' outlines this well in the semi-arid Hart Mountain antelope refuge in Oregon:
rewildingamountain.com ImageImageImageImage
In 1990, contrary to pressures by cattle groups, the land conservation stewards here voted to ban cattle grazing based on the science showing its ecological degradation to this riparian land. The result:

/2 ImageImageImageImage
The biodiversity increases, including much more birds and antelope, were clearly visualized and measured, further highlighting potentials in addressing the biodiversity crisis through rewilding land dedicated to grazing cattle.

/3 ImageImageImage
Read 6 tweets
Jun 3, 2021
There's huge variability in GHG estimates from animal agriculture.

Groups game the numbers to suit one's confirmation bias. The FAO has engrained corporate interests (Meat Secretariat) and use the lowest estimate (14.5%) and advocacy groups are drawn to the highest (51%+)

🧵 Credit: Martin Mueller
What's important is knowing how the numbers are influenced so you can critically analyze it. And in reality, there's uncertainty and a huge amount of data that's missing to truly make an exact figure accurate.

Helpful breakdowns by Martin Mueller:
bayern.landwirtschaft.jetzt/en/klimawandel/
This new study just out contributes to the clarification of the quantification of emissions, and asks why the dominant framing from the FAO avoids calls for reductions in animal consumption and the systematic changes needed to influence it.

mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/1… @richardtwine
Read 6 tweets

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