Degradation
How factory farming affects the environment
Industrial farming has done a lot of good for our society, but it has done more harm than good towards animals and the environment. Industrial farming has caused adverse effects to the environment becoming a big contributor to the climbing of climate change.
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One of these effects is air pollution. Over 37 percent of methane emissions result from factory farming. Methane can attribute to the rate of global warming 20 times more effectively than carbon dioxide. Factory farming also releases carcinogenic chemicals such as hydrogen sulfide and ammonia into the air.
Picture Credit: RESET
Another effect is deforestation. In just the United States, over 260 million acres of forest have been cleared to make room for crop fields to grow livestock feed. These practices have also been used in other countries such as Brazil. These practices have led to the lost of homes for many animals as well as increasing the rate of global warming by 50 percent.
Picture Credit: IUCN
Factory farming is a big factor in water pollution. Research by the EPA has shown that industrial agriculture including factory farming uses up 70 percent of the world’s fresh water supplies. These factories are likely to release agricultural run-off which can destroy whole ecosystems and be toxic to both humans and animals.
Picture Credit: NRDC
Monoculture in industrial farming; which is the cultivation of a single crop in a given area; is an incredible threat to future food security across the globe. Large-scale farming of monocultures requires massive amounts of synthetic fertilizers to replace the nutrients lost in the soil. Monocultures also require high amounts of synthetic pesticides to drive off pests. The overuse of these chemicals could potentially poison the soil causing massive damage to the environment.
Picture Credit: Greentumble
Industrial farming is a huge benefactor in the overall of carbon emissions and fossil fuels. Due to transportation, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, and the amount of energy it takes to run industrial farming operations, just one factory farm uses about 5.5 gallons of fossil fuels per acre. Synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are also derived from petroleum thus using even more fossil fuels in the process.
Picture Credit: iStock
Philip Lymbery, chief executive of Compassion in World Farming (CIWF); one of the world’s most highly regarded animal campaign groups; has stated that the world needs to join together to take action against industrial farming as more and more confirmations of animal abuse are revealed surrounding factory farms.
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As stated by Philip Lymbery: “Every day there is a new confirmation of how destructive, inefficient, wasteful, cruel and unhealthy the industrial agriculture machine is. We need a total rethink of our food and farming systems before it’s too late.”
Picture Credit: Sarah Lee/ The Guardian
Faced with all these adverse effects to the environment, we as humans who live on this beautiful planet should take responsibility and stop the act of factory farming to prevent further animal abuse as well as the preserving of the environment. I beg of you to spread this article with your friends and family in order to spread awareness regarding this situation in hopes that they might voice their opinions on the matter on social media. You can also support this cause by following our campaign ‘Factory Farming’ which can also help you stay updated on the matters surrounding animal abuse in factory farming.
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#FactoryFarming #AnimalCruelty #CageTheCruelty #AnimalSaviourJC
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Written by: Adam. L 3rd of july 2020
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Reference List:
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Bibi van der Zee, 2017. Why factory farming is not just cruel – but also a threat to all life on the planet
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Good, K., 2019. 5 Ways Factory Farming Is Killing the Environment
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https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/factory-farming-is-killing-the-environment/