“How vegetarianism can save the world” announced the newspaper heading. I thought it made sense because I have read long back that adopting vegetarianism is the best way to save the world. Meat devouring not only outnumbers the animal species, but also pollutes the environment. It has been found that our carnivore eating habits are responsible for the climate change. UN report says our meat eating habits have largely hampered the ecological balance. It is even feared that if we massacre animals at this rate within 50 years many of the species of animals will be extinct from earth. And earth will stop providing us food, because our crops will be affected with deadly diseases.  The ecological imbalances induced by human actions are blamed for the deadly diseases that destroy millions of crops every year.

5 ways as how vegetarianism can save the world
 

1. Eating up land
   Our hunger to eat up animals has given rise of dangerous consequences than expected.  It is believed that around 30% of ice free land is now used in welfare of livestock (cultivated for meat).  It is believed that over grazing by the animals have resulted in loss of fertility and flooding.  Also the academics have drawn out figures which indicate that the grains that are fed to the cattle in western countries if fed to humans can significantly cut down the global hunger ratio.
    

   I think figures should always be handled with caution, although 30% of the ice free surface on the earth is used for rearing the cattle, but another interesting fact is that cattle manures revitalize the soil. Also many of the poorer economies around the globe thrive on the livestock. It has been found that animal husbandry is the chief source of income for many of the Africans.  The lack of resources and poverty often wreak havoc on cattle stock management, still the African way of rearing and managing animals is said to be more efficient than the sophisticated ways followed by erudite westerners.

    

2. Deforestation
   Many might think how meat eating is going to bring about deforestation? Then they have to understand that millions of trees are cut every year to feed animals.  It is found that since last 3 decades the agriculturists are targeting tropical rainforests at large. They depend on these forests to feed and graze their cattle, and to grow up the crops. It is estimated that every year around 6 million hectares of forest land is converted to farm land.  And of this most of the land is utilized for rearing livestock or growing crops to feed cattle.

    

3. Earth Poisoning
   The western economies have adopted industrial style agricultural practices – in livestock management , which means that even a simple cattle farm can generate as much waste as the city.  Most of the cattle farms channelize animal wastes into massive waste lagoons, which often leaks, breaks, and mixes up with water supplies.  Tens of thousand miles of rivers across Asia, Europe, and America are polluted with animal wastes every year.  A single spill of waste from North Carolina Pig factory lagoon in 1995 killed millions of fish and polluted 364, 000 hectares of coastal wetlands that were used for shell fishing.

    

4.  Water resources
   It is believed that every summer around 13,000-20,000 sq.km of the sea at Mississippi becomes “dead zone” because tonnes of animal waste, sewage, nitrogen compounds and fertilizers are forced down the river. These wastes create ecological imbalances within the river, thus making it impossible for other water organisms to survive.

    

5. Ruining the air
   According to an estimate US contributes to 37% of the total pesticide use.  It is found that the pesticides are used to manage and maintain livestock.  And nearly two thirds of the artificial ammonia is generated by the livestock. The modern practices of animal farming often lead to ozone pollution. 

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