Climate change is upon us....

[Steve H]

Which are endangering the planet and all life forms.

I agree, but even so.

[Udayana]

It's almost as though some group of ape like creatures have taken control of the planet and are running amok, consuming and destroying as much as they can with no thought for the future

[Roses]

It's almost as though some group of ape like creatures have taken control of the planet and are running amok, consuming and destroying as much as they can with no thought for the future

The chief ape like creature isn't concerned as he will probably be pushing up daisies before the main impact of climate change takes hold.

[jeremyp]

It's a disgrace, but you can't impeach a President because you don't like their policies.

True. If only there were a way for the US public to remove a president with bad policies, perhaps some sort of election...

[Roses]

Trump's statement on a report about climate change, not of which he has read.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/26/politics/donald-trump-climate-change/index.html

[Harrowby Hall]

Trump's statement on a report about climate change, not of which he has read.

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/26/politics/donald-trump-climate-change/index.html

He does not know the difference between climate and weather. This should not come as a surprise to anyone since to be properly understood this concept requires an IQ in double figures.

[Roses]

He does not know the difference between climate and weather. This should not come as a surprise to anyone since to be properly understood this concept requires an IQ in double figures.

True.

[Sriram]

Seven charts about climate change......

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46384067

[Sriram]

The link brings out how beef production is one of the highest contributors to emissions leading to warming.

[Sebastian Toe]

The link brings out how beef production is one of the highest contributors to emissions leading to warming.

30% of the world's cattle are in India.
Does that make India the world's largest cattle based greenhouse emitter?
Should there be some control/culling introduced there?

[Sriram]

Its about 13% I think....

https://www.drovers.com/article/world-cattle-inventory-ranking-countries-fao

But that's a good point.  I am not sure what we can do though. In India killing cows is a great sin.  We use them mostly for milk. 

[torridon]

I downloaded data from the UN to do my own analysis of beef consumption by continent over time; preliminary result here :
 
https://datastudio.google.com/reporting/1XBG-KkCNd5VhI3ovfDmoixr_UKWJ3QnU/page/MGXd

It shows annual average consumption per head is in decline globally since a peak around 1976.  However I haven't yet factored in total population by continent and trends in population by continent.  Although the major beef eating countries are declining in consumption, lower income countries are bucking that trend with a steady increase in both consumption per head and total population.

In terms of both calorie and protein yield per hectare, it is far more efficient in terms of food economics to grow crops on the land rather than grass it and put cows on there.  In the context of global food security, and also in the context of climate change, deploying cows on your land makes no sense; it is an extravagance that the world cannot continue to afford.

With that in mind I am in process of creating a petition requesting the UK government consider raising a climate change levy on beef and dairy produce.  Will post up a link when it is approved and live for anyone who would like to support it.

[Sebastian Toe]

Its about 13% I think....

https://www.drovers.com/article/world-cattle-inventory-ranking-countries-fao

But that's a good point.  I am not sure what we can do though. In India killing cows is a great sin.  We use them mostly for milk.

That's a 2015 article.
I got my figure from a 2018 up to date one.
So not only does India have the largest population of cattle, it is growing fast enough to have overtaken Brazil in only three years since your figures !

I think the Indian people need to seriously look at their unfettered growing contribution to global cow climate change and start to do something about it before it's too late.

[Harrowby Hall]

In terms of both calorie and protein yield per hectare, it is far more efficient in terms of food economics to grow crops on the land rather than grass it and put cows on there.  In the context of global food security, and also in the context of climate change, deploying cows on your land makes no sense; it is an extravagance that the world cannot continue to afford.

Each year, I drive from one of the Channel ports to my French holiday home.  Much of the French countryside now is prairie-like expanses of maize, wheat, sorghum and similar crops, grown primarily as cattle food. Stock rearing - as such - occupies a relatively small proportion of farmed land in France. The majority of agricultural activity appears to be growing crops for conversion into cattle food.

I do admit to being a meat eater, but am not voraciously so. It often occurs to me that were some of the land devoted to the production of cattle feed used for food for direct human consumption that we might all have the opportunity to eat a wider and healthier variety of foods.

[Rhiannon]

I'm thinking then that another sensible choice would be to switch from cow to sheep and goat dairy.

[Nearly Sane]

Yep

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-kind-of-dark-realism-why-the-climate-change-problem-is-starting-to-look-too-big-to-solve/2018/12/03/378e49e4-e75d-11e8-a939-9469f1166f9d_story.html

[Sriram]

Yep

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-kind-of-dark-realism-why-the-climate-change-problem-is-starting-to-look-too-big-to-solve/2018/12/03/378e49e4-e75d-11e8-a939-9469f1166f9d_story.html

Yeah....it is inevitable.

I have come across some youngsters who don't want to have children because they feel the children could be subjected to suffering and possibly early death.

Our reproductive instincts seem to be getting affected because the illusion of perennial life seems to be disappearing in the face of imminent calamities. 

Very sad!

[torridon]

I think it is inevitable because we cannot muster the belief and will to tackle it. Witness Mr Macron's climb down in the face of a public backlash against fuel taxes; and yet such measures are just tinkering at the edges of a problem that is vast in scale.  I'm arguing with some American guy on Quora who is convinced the climate change issue is all scaremongering by Democrats who are seeking to ruin the American economy.  Half of America will oppose action on climate change on party political grounds.  By the time sufficient people become sufficiently aware to be able to stomach radical change it will be too late to halt or reverse major disruption and we will be bequeathing a future of unprecedented brutality for our descendants.

[Udayana]

...
Our reproductive instincts seem to be getting affected because the illusion of perennial life seems to be disappearing in the face of imminent calamities. 
...

This is a problem?

[torridon]

My Govt petition for a climate levy on beef has just gone live.  If you'd care to sign it it is here :

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/233474

Sorry, Sriram, you need to be a UK citizen to sign.

[Sebastian Toe]

My Govt petition for a climate levy on beef has just gone live.  If you'd care to sign it it is here :

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/233474

Sorry, Sriram, you need to be a UK citizen to sign.

Sriram could start a petition in India to get it's world record cattle numbers down and under control given the amount of contribution they have towards global warming?

[Steve H]

Sriram could start a petition in India to get its world record cattle numbers down and under control given the amount of contribution they have towards global warming.

It's also one of the world's largest countries, so that it has a very large number of cattle (and people) isn't very surprising. In any case, shifting the blame on to cattle is not helpful: it's industrial emmissions that are the main culprit, not cow-farts.

[Sebastian Toe]

It's also one of the world's largest countries, so that it has a very large number of cattle (and people) isn't very surprising. In any case, shifting the blame on to cattle is not helpful: it's industrial emmissions that are the main culprit, not cow-farts.

Who's shifting the blame?

[torridon]

Sriram could start a petition in India to get it's world record cattle numbers down and under control given the amount of contribution they have towards global warming?

To be fair, the Gap report from NewClimate suggests that India is one of only three countries in the world that are exceeding their Paris emissions targets.  The vast majority of nations are failing their own targets.  The real villains of the piece are China, first and foremost, and the US, both of whom are prioritising economic growth at the expense of environmental considerations.

https://newclimate.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/EmissionGapReport_2018.pdf

[Sriram]

Yeah....and besides cutting emissions we all as individuals can contribute by not using plastics, disposable diapers, hygiene pads, wet wipes, tissues, throw away pens, shaving kits, straws,bottles....and many other such things.  Even many electronic items can be repaired and reused instead of going in for new ones.

Maybe taking to a largely veg diet would also help.