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Increase In Cattle Farming Causing 12 Billion Tons of Carbon Dioxide Emissions
Increase In Cattle Farming Causing 12 Billion Tons of Carbon Dioxide Emissions
An increase in the demand for beef, leather and other agricultural products has lead to intensified deforestation in the Amazon Jungle, according to recent report released by several leading environmental groups.
Atlanta,
GA,
India
(prbd.net)
25/10/2010
An increase in the demand for beef, leather and other agricultural products has lead to intensified deforestation in the Amazon Jungle, according to recent report released by several leading environmental groups. This amounts to a yearly loss of more than 30 million acres of tropical forests, a staggering number raising global concern due to its impact on biodiversity and climate change. The root cause, an increase in cattle ranching, has been responsible for up to 12 billion tons of additional carbon dioxide emission in the last decade – the equivalent of two years worth of carbon dioxide emissions from US infrastructure projects. CO2 is considered the number one contributor to global climate change.
According to leading environmentalists, the factors that constantly driving deforestation include:
Logging - Cutting down trees for timber to meet an ever-increasing global demand.
Cattle Ranching - Increase in Western meat consumption and leather demand has intensified cattle ranching. Farmers have been entering the lucrative industry, cutting trees to ranch cattle. It is estimated that 18 percent of the total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emission is due to the livestock industry.
Soybean plantation - Cultivation of soybeans on cleared land to feed the increasing number to cattle.
Squatters – Growing numbers of people are taking over unclaimed farmland by clearing land.
Infrastructure Projects -Building of dams and roads also threaten forests, as one of the major threats a hydroelectric dam can cause is intensive flooding.
Last, ineffective government regulations have been considered a major catalyst behind constant deforestation.
Environmental groups are urging people worldwide to call for a decrease in cattle farming and the prevention of tree cutting. For further information regarding Amazon deforestation and programs to save the rainforests, please visit http://www.premieretreeservices.com
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