Can Veganism Combat Climate Change?

          CAN VEGANISM COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE?       Name of Student         Course Name of Professor University Date
Can Veganism Combat Climate Change? Introduction The concept of climate change has continued to raise significant debates across the world due to its increasing impact on human life. According to the United Nations, climate change refers to the continuous shifts in global temperatures and patterns in weather in the long term. The main causes of such changes in climate are attributed to human factors that include increasing the level of carbon emissions through activities such as burning fossil fuels (Salonen et al., 2018). Ultimately, climate change has drastic effects on the earth that could affect all living things, including drought, rising sea levels, and violent storms (Bristow, 2011). This is a cause of concern for the world since such effects are becoming more apparent with each passing year hence the need for interventions. Combating climate change is a significant step towards securing the world for future generations since its effects are reversible during such early stages of destruction. Therefore, taking the right steps towards identifying and providing interventions for climate change forms the best step toward addressing the issue. One of the solutions to combating climate change includes the transition to plant-based diets. The practice of veganism eliminates the consumption of dairy products and meat in diets, thus reducing the overreliance on animals as a source of food (Watson, 2019). The increased intake of meat and its related products, especially in the west, is considered one of the largest contributors to global warming due to the extensive farming methods. The rearing of animals to produce meat and dairy products requires massive amounts of land and input (Saaria et al., 2021). Further, the animals and products must be processed and transported to reach the respective consumers once they mature. On the other hand, farm produce requires less effort to produce and process hence providing a better option to deal with the issue of climate change. Consequently, veganism forms a viable choice for combating climate change by reducing eutrophication, greenhouse emissions, and land and water use. Theoretical Discussion The Concept of Climate Change             The climate system comprises a number of interconnected aspects, including water bodies, land surfaces, living things, the atmosphere, ice, and snow. Therefore, these components constantly interact over time, thus impacting each other. Ultimately climate change is defined as the changes or variability in precipitation, temperatures, and wind (Bristow, 2011). These changes can occur due to external factors and internal dynamics in the atmosphere. External factors are acts of God that include volcanic eruptions or changes in solar radiation patterns. At the same time, internal dynamics refer to human-induced changes in the atmosphere that affect the composition of different aspects.             The greenhouse effect reduces airflow in the atmosphere by preventing all the sun’s energy rays from reflecting off the earth and outside the atmosphere. As a result, the temperature on earth is retained through this naturally occurring process. Therefore, the greenhouse effect is an important aspect that prevents lowering the earth’s temperature to unsustainable levels (Boer et al., 2013). Consequently, balancing the level of absorbed energy through radiation requires the earthy to reflect a significant portion of incoming energy constantly. Therefore, this enables the average temperature on the earth to be maintained at approximately 14°C due to the greenhouse effect. Greenhouse Emissions Post-industrial climate change has resulted in significant changes in the earth’s atmosphere. As a result, human beings are blamed for the continued misuse of resources that lead to the destruction of the atmosphere through aspects such as the release of greenhouse gases and aerosols. The use of fossil fuels that increase the composition of carbon dioxide in the world is the leading cause of greenhouse emissions (Jürkenbeck et al., 2021). Such emissions affect the release and retention of incoming radiation from the sun, which is responsible for maintaining the balance of energy on the planet. There are various direct causes of increasing greenhouse emissions in the world today. Firstly, the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to human action comes from burning fossil fuels to produce the energy required to perform various industrial activities. For instance, industries need transport services to move raw and finished products throughout their supply chain (Kolbe, 2020). Apart from that, increased deforestation activities contribute to higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by reducing the number of plants available. Additionally, methane gas produced through agriculture and natural gas contributes to climate change. Such activities also increase nitrous oxide, which primarily comes from fertilizers and fossil fuels in human activities. More so, the extensive use of activities such as refrigeration in industrial functions increased the level of halocarbons such as chlorofluorocarbons (Vinnari, 2019). The high concentration of such halocarbon gases leads to the depletion of the ozone layer. Without regulation, the global levels of chlorofluorocarbons have the potential to affect the climate significantly. Lastly, aerosols which refer to tiny particles in the atmosphere, are emitted constantly into the atmosphere through natural and human-induced factors. The use of fossil fuels in different activities leads to higher concentration and release of Sulphur and carbon compounds. More so, mining activities also release dust that compounds over time to form elements that can affect the climate of a region. Aerosols not only affect the health of human beings but further have negative impacts on weather patterns, such as the onset of acid rain caused by the mixture of water vapor and Sulphur compounds released into the atmosphere over time (Kolbe, 2020). In the long run, such instances have irreversible effects on the environment, thus leading to degradation and overall climatic changes. Interventions for Climate Change             Climate change is increasing exponentially, hence the need to put measures to prevent total damage to the world. Post-industrial carbon dioxide levels are alarmingly high; accordingly, the interventions would likely take thousands of years to return the earth to its normal carbon dioxide levels (Jürkenbeck et al., 2021). Therefore, interventions require identifying, mitigating, and ultimately eliminating human-induced aspects of climate change. By identifying the salient problems that human beings cause in the environment, it becomes possible to develop tailor-made solutions to address them individually and thus bring viable changes.             One of the most important issues identified as the leading cause of climate change is burning fossil fuels. Fossil fuels supply the global majority of power sources that enable human beings to enjoy different amenities. The age of the industries helped a new frontier in human development that allowed the advancement of generations through activities that increased production and manufacturing processes. However, such industrialization came at a cost due to the need to use natural resources such as forests to provide the fuel to power such industries (Hedenus et al., 2014). With the availability of oil deposits across various global locations, it provides the easiest source of energy to produce electricity and power a variety of machinery in the world today. Such human activities have continued unmonitored until recently when discoveries on their effect and contributions to greenhouse emissions.             While many solutions have been provided over the years to address the issue of human activities, little focus has been put on encouraging and implementing plant-based diets across the globe. Turning to veganism can solve the problems that human beings constantly face due to the elimination of the rearing of different types of animals to provide meat and dairy products. Poore and Nemeck (2018) explain that food production produces nearly 26% of greenhouse emissions. Further, animal products are responsible for over 58% of emissions, with beef and lamb accounting for half of these emissions today, as shown in figure 1 below. This shows the significant impact that animal products have on the world today hence the need to reduce their consumption and eventually eliminate them to reduce their contribution to climate change.   Figure 1: Summary of emissions caused by food (Poore & Nemecek, 2018)              Based on this data, this can be the first step toward targeted interventions to solve the problems caused by human beings through their activities. While different foods have different impacts on the environment, it is notable that animal products have a higher impact than others, as shown in figure 2 below. Raising, producing, and ultimately converting animals into food requires immense natural resources, including water and land, to sustain (Kortetmäki & Oksanen, 2021). Further, the quantities of waste produced are also significant considering the population depending on such animal products across the globe. Therefore, veganism aims to reduce and ultimately eliminate such unsustainable farming practices to feed the increasing global population (Chapman, 2022). Such plant-based diets can maintain natural resources that are easily accessible and available to a significant portion of the population and can meet the dietary requirements of human beings.   Figure 2: Food consumption and contribution to greenhouse emissions (Kolbe, 2020)             Opposing ideals on the overall impact of veganism state the effect of farming practices such as monoculture or homogeneous crops that could affect the environment. Such farming practices are said to reduce biodiversity and contribute to the depletion of soils and habitats. The use of fertilizers for large-scale and commercial farming purposes also risks creating environmental pollution that could ultimately affect the ecosystem (Grassian, 2020). These reasons provide valid explanations for some possible problems that could face the production of plant-based diets for the entire human population. However, considering the hypothetical elimination of plant-based diets completely to an alternative of animal products, the natural resources required and the ultimate consequences are far-reaching. This means that the rearing of animals for food cannot be sustainable in the long run.             Farming processes can be made sustainable by ensuring crop rotation that prevents the problem of monoculture. This provides various benefits to the farming process by providing a variety of crops in each season that can provide dietary benefits to human beings. Such diversity of crops produced in each season solves the possible problem caused by the planting of homogenous crops (Sanchez-Sabate & Sabaté, 2019). Apart from that, the risk of eutrophication through the overutilization of fertilizers in the farming process can be reduced by properly managing and applying fertilizers during the farming process (C...