Livestock Farming One of the Main Menaces for the Environment.

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By, Uwe Paschen.

Livestock Farming one of the main menaces of the environment today.

Farming and Livestock farming should be Ecological and not a major polluter one would think, after all, we are dealing with Animals in a natural environment and is that not the way Nature works? The problem is not nature here, nor the animals or the Farmland per says. The problem does lie in the way farming or Agriculture has evolved over the past century.

In the last 20 years, alone one third of all Livestock farm holdings have disappeared, yet the amount of Livestock has increased by 40% over the same period in the EU alone. In North America, the trend is even more dramatic.

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/envir/report/en/live_en/report.htm

 Further, the Land mass used to hold those animals has decreased by 50% since 1995. This means that there are 40% more Animals on 50% less land today then there was in 1995.

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/envir/index_en.htm

 Why is this trend of Increased Livestock number on less land as well as the increase in Meat consumption causing a problem for the environment at large. More Animal do produce more Methane Gas for starter and this Methane Gas has an even greater negative impact on Global Warming or also called Green House Gases then CO2 does.

 Further, a higher concentration of animals in a confined place and on a smaller area does cause higher health problems for the Animals and a much faster cross contamination of diseases. The Stress the Animals are under in such confined dwelling causes for their immune system to be weaker and there for to be more susceptible to diseases.

 This is being countered with cheep mass medications such as a wide spectrum of antibiotics and even anti inflammatory drugs as well as hormones in order to keep the animals alive and growing fast for slotter or producing more milk in the case of the dairy industry. To a point that the nutritional value of this meat and the Dairy products is negligible today.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TFX-4S50V3Y-K&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=09a3f81db19f476df0b76c77dbaa191e

  However, the negative impact of Antibiotic, Hormonal residues is not only affecting Humans in particular that consume those meat and dairy products, even more the environment at large is affected. Residues are fund in the Ground water, lakes, and rivers and even in the sea today as well as in topsoil's, where plants and vegetables absorb some of those Residues wish we end up eating our self due to the contaminated manure being spread on the land.

http://books.google.com/books?id=MdfBc1EyEDEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Agriculture+and+environment

 Those Farming methods do provide most in the Industrialised World with rather cheep meat and dairy products, yet those are now of little nutritional value and contaminated with residues that affect the over all health of Humans and wild life alike in a rather negative manner. Ending up costing us more in health care and treatment then if we where to produce food environmentally responsible and humanly as well.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2557617.stm

  The excuse for this sort of agriculture has always been that we need to feed the World. This however is nothing more then a fairy tail, all hunger around the globe is directly linked to Politics, Wars, Land rights and ownership, Diversion of land use, to non-productive use, Increasing emphasis on export-oriented agriculture, Inefficient agricultural practices, Famine, Drought, Over-fishing, Poor crop yield due to pollution, climate changes and over use of Chemicals, Lack of democracy and rights, and unfair trade or Climate changes as well as pollution caused by Human. Further the over production of the Industrial countries ends up going into the garbage bin or being spread on the land since we want money for our production even in Agriculture and those that are starving can not pay, so the food certainly does not go to them.

http://www.globalissues.org/article/7/causes-of-hunger-are-related-to-poverty

 Why have we not changed to system yet? One of the main reasons is protectionism and trade war especially between the USA, Canada, Mexico, the European Union, Russia and now Brazil and Argentina as well. Protectionism and politics of market dominance rather then sound management of the resources. Also called Global Natural Resource Management and environmental impact analysis.

http://www.unapcict.org/ecohub/communities/natural-resources-management

 The UN or other organizations cannot be held responsible here, nor can we blame the Farmers at large, the main problem lies with the consumer and voters. Those are in large part causing this trend to persist and the consumer is at the heard why this came into existence by the way we shop and decide what and where to buy. The consumer at large is the only one today that can force a change as well and that will only happen once we the consumer realized in large enough numbers that we need to change our habits and priorities.

http://www.greenshopper.com/

 There for it may take a wile yet, before we may see any improvement.