Why is the increase in livestock bad for the environment??

Question

Why is the increase in livestock bad for the environment??

Answer 1

1.) Desertification:  when cattle graze too much in an area and all the vegetation is eaten, the ground becomes dry.  When cattle keep on walking on the ground, they compress the porous soil and make it compact, causing a dramatic decrease in the ability of the soil to absorb water and nutrients.  Since the soil will not be able to absorb water, the water from rain can cause erosion and make the soil infertile to raise crops.

2.) Water contamination: if the numbers of livestock were to increase, so would the amount of waste that they produce.  As the waste filtrates through the soil, it enters the water supply underground and can cause disease. (ecoli is an example).

3.) Water consumption: it takes 7000 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef and 1000 gallons of water to prouce one pound of grain to feed the animal.  If the numbers of cattle were to rise there could be a major increase in the amount of water that is needed.

4.) Grazing area: Sheep, horses, and cattle all graze.  If farmers wanted to cut down the chances of desertification occuring, they would use many pastures for their livestock- so that once the grass in one pasture gets too short, they can switch to another pasture- hus rotating the animals from one area to another.

I hope this was helpful!

Answer 2

Raising livestock releases a lot of methane, which is a greenhouse gas; IT CAUSES GLOBAL WARMING!!

That's why reducing meat-comsumption is important, although not very popular...

Also, for space, you would have to cut down trees, which means less plants to absorb carbon dioxide.

Answer 3

space for livestock sometimes requires clearing forests. aslo they eat a lot of plants that would otherwise be carrying out photosynthesis

Answer 4

Considering that North America (and yes, ALASKA) were once thickly covered by roving herds of bison, I doubt that our domesticated livestock are s******g up the environment with their flatulence. The problem comes from a lack of localized pucky control...

Answer 5

Not sure of the exact answer to this, but some possible things to consider--the excrement from livestock, if not reused as fertilizer for crops, is dumped, often running into streams, rivers, etc. where it sits as refuse like all the rest of the senseless waste products not properly disposed of.  Also, believe it or not, the burps from livestock contain gases which are obviously released in the atmosphere.  Those gases actually are contributing to the weakening ozone layer.