Limitations

A critical reason as to why we are not doing everything we can to stop this global crisis is because of our natural human habits. For instance, our appetite for meat and specifically beef is a major driver of climate change. Reducing our meat consumption will help reduce global warming to below the “danger level” of 2 degrees Celsius. Since 1880 we have increased the global temperature by almost 0.8 degrees Celsius or 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit. The effects on our planet will be catastrophic if we do not lower our carbon footprint on the planet which is causing and trapping heat in turn leading to increased global temperatures. The livestock sector accounts for almost 15 percent of total global emissions. This is equivalent to exhaust emissions from all vehicles in the world. A shift in our diet and eating habits could help reduce our emissions by a quarter of what we need to keep Earth below that 2 degrees Celsius mark. In industrialized countries, the average person is eating twice as much meat as what is deemed healthy by most expert nutritionists. Overconsumption of meat is not just leading to an unhealthy environment it’s also leading to increases in obesity, heart disease and type 2-diabetes. In spite of the benefits of lowering and addressing meat consumption, government intervention is unlikely do the fear of public backlash as well as a lack of public knowledge and awareness on the topic. Public awareness of the link between climate change and dietary choices is low. Exposing people to the facts and spreading awareness could bring on government intervention which would greatly help in reducing climate change.