Alfredo Acero P.

Cows, The Real Environmental Threat

Cows have been a main food source for millions of Americans for decades. Today many

farmers raise and slaughter cows in order to feed not only the population of the US, but also

many other different countries. Throughout the act of raising cows people have not noticed the

effects it has had on our environment. While many Americans blame climate change on

greenhouse emissions and pollution from factories and other industrial based machinery.

However 51% of total greenhouse emissions are produced by cows we raised for food

(Cowspiracy). Climate change has severely affected the U.S. causing storms, droughts, and

strong winds (nasa.gov). If greenhouse emissions from agricultural cows arent reduced, severe

climate change would be inevitable. In order to reduce the greenhouse emissions of cows a bill

should be passed that increases the cost of cow products in order to reduce its reproduction;

making farmers reduce their cow population and reducing emissions from cows.

Through most of history people have been eating cows and other forms of domesticated

animals. But as industrialization started animals became mechanized they left the farm and put

into feedlots(livinghistoryfarm.org). Instead of grass cows were fed corn feed in order to grow

fatter and faster. Although effective, the cows became extremely unhealthy to eat because the

corn that they ate were GMO produced (animals.mom.me). Humans would have to acclimate to

the rising price and compromise to buying alternatives to cow products.

Although cows are beneficial to the lifestyle of humans, they are quite

harmful(sikhnet.com). Cows and other agricultural animals produce 51% of all greenhouse

emissions into our atmosphere while only 13% of all greenhouse emissions are from

transportation vehicles. The amount of waste cows and agricultural animals produce is quite high

as well. 411,000 people produce the same amount of waste as 2,500 dairy cows. Every minute 7
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million pounds of excrement are produced by cows and farm animals. (Cowspiracy). Cows and

other agricultural animals have a very heavy diet of corn and other crops which can contain high

levels of phosphorus because of fertilizers, meaning that it can ultimately infect the environment

through the excrement of cows (epa.gov). This excrement is not properly cleaned in many cases

which means that the nitrogen and phosphorus in the excrement can be taken to nearby water

systems and cause hypoxia conditions to spread through the water system of the whole country

eventually leading to the ocean (independent uk). This means that our drinking water and oxygen

creating bacteria can be extremely polluted if cows and other agricultural animals excrement are

not cleaned properly.

*the amount of dead zones(hypoxia conditions) found in the US, from 1910 to 2006

Also the amount of water used by cows is substantially bigger. The amount of water used

for one hamburger is equal to 660 gallons (Cowspiracy). One human spends the same amount of

water from 2 months of showering. Agriculture also takes up much land in order to make pasture

for cows. Deforestation is very common in order to make land

for agriculture. Every 1 to 2 acres of rainforest is cleared every

second. 91% of all cleared rainforests are specifically dedicated

to agriculture. (Cowspiracy). Cows use more resources and

pollute the land faster than any other organism yet humans still

raise cattle, destroying more natural resources than creating them

(cowspiracy).

People are incredibly dependent on cows and other

agricultural animals, mainly for profit. So much so that livestock covers 45 % of all of the

Earths land (Cowspiracy). All over the world the cows are being raised and slaughtered
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constantly has reached an all-time high. And as long as it's profitable nothing can stop it. Of

course with the world with large cows and other agricultural animals the amount of greenhouse

emissions will be raised extremely high. Clean water would also be polluted to the point where

only green bacteria live and no living organism can live there(wri.org). The eutrophication of our

natural water sources will increase greatly if cows continue to pollute the land around the U.S.

Even though cows are a large piece of human dietary there is a solution to reducing the

production of cow products. If we raise the cost of cow products less people would be willing to

buy it and find alternatives to eating red meat in their diets. Actually it is more cost efficient to

grow more plant food than cows or any other agricultural animal. From just 1.5 acres of land

370,000 pounds of plant food can be grown in comparison to 375 pounds of meat grown in the

same amount of land.(Cowspiracy). If people start to center their diets around more plant based

foods than certainly the amount of greenhouse emission will drop. If anything growing more

plants than meat based products will improve the environment because more plants and diversity

allow more oxygen to be produced improving the current situation of air pollution. Only 1/6th of

an acre is needed to feed one vegan for a whole year compared to 1.6 acres needed to feed meat

eaters (Cowspiracy).

Cows should not be completely illegal but raising their price tag will certainly cause

others to change their minds about what they're eating. If less cows are grown and eaten the

better the condition of our environment will improve. Less water, less excrement, less land, less

deforestation would benefit everything living in the world but it all depends on the people who

consume the Earth with greed whether they want to increase the vitality of our planet.
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http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/cow-emissions-more-damaging-to-

planet-than-co2-from-cars-427843.html

The Sources and Solutions: Agriculture. (n.d.). Retrieved December 16, 2016, from

https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/sources-and-solutions-agriculture

Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret. (n.d.). Retrieved December 16, 2016, from

http://www.cowspiracy.com/

The Impact of Climate Change on Natural Disasters. (n.d.). Retrieved February 08,

2017, from http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/RisingCost/rising_cost5.php

Beef, Feedlots & IBP. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2017, from

http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe50s/crops_08.html

How Does Eating a Lot of Corn Affect Cows? (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2017, from

http://animals.mom.me/eating-lot-corn-affect-cows-9538.html

The Effects on Humans of Eating Meat. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2017, from

https://www.sikhnet.com/news/effects-humans-eating-meat

Sources of Eutrophication. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2017, from

Lhttp://www.wri.org/our-work/project/eutrophication-and-hypoxia/sources-eutrophication