To “save” the climate, are we all going to become vegetarians? Far from it, researchers today answer. According to him, just a small reduction in our meat production would be enough to achieve great results in the fight against global warming.
To reduce the BroadcastingBroadcasting The solution to greenhouse gases from the agricultural sector lies with environmentalists. Our consumption and therefore our production of meat drops drastically. But this is difficult for some people to understand. It may also seem unfair to populations in developing countries who may already be deprived of access to meat.
Less vines, more forest
For all of them, the work I publish today Pnas (Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesNew York University (United States) researchers come as an excellent news. “We can reap big climate benefits with modest changes in total global beef production.”says Matthew N. Hayek, lead author of the study. by the “Minor Changes”Understandably, the decline in global output of around 13%, however, is concentrated in high-income countries. And by “Big Climate Benefits”125 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is equal to the global fossil fuel emissions of the past three years.
The researchers’ idea to achieve this is surprisingly simple. In areas where forests existed before they were cut to make way for grazing, limiting beef production will help return the land to forests. And for ecosystems – both trees and soil – to start absorbing CO again2 the wind
Target areas to maximize returns
Remove all potentially grazing animals from forested areas. locallocal Even the world can sequester 445 billion tons of CO.2 By the end of this century. equivalent to more than a decade of current global emissions FuelFuel FossilsFossils. While global pasture affects less than half of meat production. Meanwhile, the maps developed by the researchers make it possible to identify areas where policies can be prioritized to reduce beef production and accelerate forest regeneration to maximize benefits. .
