Human settlements, industries and agriculture are the major sources of water
pollution. Globally, 80 percent of municipal wastewater is discharged into water bodies
untreated, and industry is responsible for dumping millions of tonnes of heavy metals,
solvents, toxic sludge and other wastes into water bodies each year (WWAP, 2017).
Agriculture, which accounts for 70 percent of water abstractions worldwide, plays
a major role in water pollution. Farms discharge large quantities of agrochemicals,
organic matter, drug residues, sediments and saline drainage into water bodies. The
resultant water pollution poses demonstrated risks to aquatic ecosystems, human
health and productive activities (UNEP, 2016). http://www.fao.org/3/a-i7754e.pdf

Globally, agriculture accounts for 92% of the global freshwater footprint; 29% of the water in agriculture is directly or indirectly used for animal production [25].

The greenhouse effect happens because the sun gives the Earth large amounts of radiation to go into the atmosphere as visible light, ultraviolet radiation, infrared radiation, and other invisible radiations. According to NASA, 30 percent of the radiation which hits Earth is eventually reflected by clouds, ice, and reflective surfaces back towards space. The ocean, land, and atmosphere absorb the other 70 percent.

NASA.

When the ocean, land and atmosphere absorb radiation, they heat up and release that heat as infrared thermal radiation, and that radiation leaves the atmosphere to go to space.

The exchanging of radiation coming in and out and warming up the Earth is called the greenhouse effect

“With snow on the ground, many people will have been huddling around a wood fire, but researchers are questioning if wood burning is really climate neutral. Burning wood is not CO₂ free; it releases carbon, stored over the previous decades, in one quick burst. For an equal amount of heat or electricity, it releases more CO₂than burning gas, oil and even coal, so straight away we have more CO₂ in the air from burning wood. This should be reabsorbed as trees regrow. For logs from mature Canadian woodland, it could take more than 100 years before the atmospheric CO₂ is less than the alternative scenario of burning a fossil fuel and leaving the trees in the forest.”

“This matters to prevent climate tipping points such as an ice-free Arctic or shifting monsoon patterns before the wider decarbonisation can take place following the trajectories of the Paris and Kyoto agreements. Critics of this view say that the trees would never have been left to grow, but would instead have been chopped down for wood or paper. It seems that wood burning is not climate neutral in the short term and requires an increase in forested area to be climate neutral in the longer term.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/01/pollutionwatch-wood-burning-is-not-climate-friendly

http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm

“In 1950, about 15 percent of the Earth’s land surface was covered by rainforest. Today, more than half has already gone up in smoke. In fewer than fifty years, more than half of the world’s tropical rainforests have fallen victim to fire and the chain saw, and the rate of destruction is still accelerating. Unbelievably, more than 200,000 acres of rainforest are burned every day. That is more than 150 acres lost every minute of every day, and 78 million acres lost every year! More than 20 percent of the Amazon rainforest is already gone, and much more is severely threatened as the destruction continues. It is estimated that the Amazon alone is vanishing at a rate of 20,000 square miles a year. If nothing is done to curb this trend, the entire Amazon could well be gone within fifty years.”

In the 1950’s, nearly 15 percent of the land on Earth was filled with rainforest. Now, more than half of that amount has been burned and chopped down. Everyday, 200,000 acres of rainforests are removed, thats 312.5 square miles daily.

https://www.wri.org/blog/2018/06/2017-was-second-worst-year-record-tropical-tree-cover-loss

Turubanova, S., Potapov, P., Tyukavina, A., and Hansen, M. (2018) Ongoing primary forest loss in Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Indonesia. Environmental Research Letters

“according to new data from the University of Maryland, released today on Global Forest Watch. In total, the tropics experienced 15.8 million hectares (39.0 million acres) of tree cover loss in 2017, an area the size of Bangladesh. That’s the equivalent of losing 40 football fields of trees every minute for an entire year.”

According to research from the University of Maryland in 2017, 39 million acres of trees were deforested in the tropics in the span of 12 months. That area of loss is equivalent to the size of Bangladesh. This means that in one year, 40 football field sized areas of trees were cut down and burned every minute.

Click to access a-a0262e.pdf

In the 1990s, an estimated 94,000 square kilometers, which is roughly the size of Portugal, of forests would shrink annually. Majority of this land would go on to serve animal production needs such as growing crops and land for grazing.

The deforestation process begins as roads are cut through the forests. This opens it up for mining and logging. After this, either commercial or subsistence farmers come in and are allowed to grow crops. In many cases, forest soils lack nutrients and are too fragile for sustaining those crops. In just 2 or 3 years, the soil is ruined and no longer able to benefit the crops. The farmers then let the grass grow back and go find different land. After that, the ranchers move in to the land. It doesn’t cost much money to raise cattle on land which has already been used before and now has grass growing on it. After five to ten years, that rain forest land becomes overgrazed and has no nutrients anymore and therefore is ruined.

Click to access a-a0262e.pdf

Rosales, Mauricio. “LIVESTOCK POLICY BRIEF 03: Cattle Ranching and Deforestation.” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2006, http://www.fao.org/3/a-a0262e.pdf.

In only the last 25 years, forest have been taken down primarily in central and southern America in order to make room for pastures for producing livestock. Deforestation is responsible for harming the Earth by releasing billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide and causing thousands of animal and plant species to go extinct. In order to combat this destruction, policies by governments need to be put in place to discourage livestock production from expanding and to promote sustainable systems of food production.

One problem that arises from deforestation is the carbon dioxide emission that comes from it. In order to get rid of forests, it is necessary to clear and burn them. This process releases billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gasses annually. It is estimated that deforestation is responsible for 1/4 of all human caused carbon emissions. Additionally, because trees absorb carbon in the atmosphere and turn it in to wood tissue, deforestation builds up GHG due to the fact there are less “carbon sinks”/forests to absorb it.

Another problem that stems from deforestation is the loss of biodiversity which it causes. Tropical forests have more than 13 million unique species which equals more than 2/3 of all the Earth’s animals and plants. It is estimated that in nearly 10 years, 2 to 5 percent of all rain forest species will go extinct due to deforestation.

Soil degradation is another problem caused by deforestation. In forests and jungles, the soil is able to support all the plants due to the leaves which have fallen and the old branches which give nutrients to it. The canopy of forests protect it from weather external factors such as the sun and too much rain. The root structures of trees are extensive and ultimately help prevent erosion. Once deforestation takes place, the soil loses its nutrients and protect and quickly becomes ruined. The natural grasses around that soil is only able to provide a few nutrients to it and close to no protection.

quote from the journal: not sure how to include this because I’m kind of confused
“Water pollution – Forests often serve as nature’s water
purification plants, as rain water percolates through soil
held in place by the complex root structures of several
layers of trees. Without the protective forest canopy and
roots, the soil loses its capacity to retain water and is often”

http://www.worldwatch.org/peak-meat-production-strains-land-and-water-resources-1

“Peak Meat Production Strains Land and Water Resources.” Worldwatch Institute, 14 Aug. 2014, http://www.worldwatch.org/peak-meat-production-strains-land-and-water-resources-1.

In the world, nearly 40% of all wheat, rye, corn, and oat production is made to feed animal livestock plus 250 million tons of soybeans and other oil seeds. As a result, there is an ethical conflict due to the fact that this food could be going to the poor, but rather it is going to animals so the wealthy can enjoy meat in their meals.

In order to speed up the growth of animals and reduce the chances of diseases spreading among the cramped conditions, antibiotics are given to animals in heavy doses. In 2011, 13,600 tons of antibiotics were sold for livestock operations in the United States. That’s nearly four times the 3,500 tons used for treating sick people. This number, however, is nothing compared to the 100,000 tons used in the meat production in China.

http://www.worldwatch.org/peak-meat-production-strains-land-and-water-resources-1

“Peak Meat Production Strains Land and Water Resources.” Worldwatch Institute, 14 Aug. 2014, http://www.worldwatch.org/peak-meat-production-strains-land-and-water-resources-1.

Of all the Earth’s agricultural land, nearly 70% is used purely for animal pasture. Additionally, 10% of land is used for growing the grains needed to feed the meat and dairy livestock. The animal that requires the most resources is beef, which requires three-five times more land in order to produce the same amount of protein found in pork or chicken. The production of beef uses 3/5 of worldwide farmland but only yields less than 5% of the world’s protein.

Animal agriculture uses 70 percent of the available fresh water  in the world. One third of that water goes to be used for growing the grain which feeds the livestock. Beef requires a significantly higher amount of water compared to all other meats. “More than 15,000 liters of water used per kilogram is far more than is required by a number of staple foods, such as rice (3,400 liters per kg), eggs (3,300 liters), milk (1,000 liters), or potatoes (255 liters).”

From cowspiracy.com – Jacobson, Michael F. “Six Arguments For a Greener Diet: How a More Plant-based Diet Could Save Your Health and the Environment. Chapter 4: More and Cleaner Water”. Washington, DC: Center for Science in the Public Interest, 2006.

In the United States, growing feed for livestock animals consumes 56% of water.

Although its hard to pinpoint an exact number, animal agriculture is responsible for consuming 34 to 76 trillion gallons every year. It takes 442 – 8000 gallons to produce one pound of beef.

http://www.cowspiracy.com/facts/

“Chicken requires 518 gallons of water per pound. Beef requires the most water, at 1,847 gal./lb., followed by sheep at 1,248 gal./lb. and pork at 718 gal./lb. If you’re going to eat meat, go with chicken. Better yet try eggs, which take 395 gal./lb., or plant based protein. For dairy products, cheese and butter take more than milk at 381 gal./lb. and 665 gal./lb. respectively. Milk by itself uses only 122 gallons of water per pound.”

quote from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/13/food-water-footprint_n_5952862.html

sourced from https://waterfootprint.org/media/downloads/Report47-WaterFootprintCrops-Vol1.pdf

Mekonnen, M.M. & Hoekstra, A.Y. Ecosystems (2012) 15: 401. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-011-9517-8

preface:

When considering the impact that animal agriculture has on water consumption it is important to put the different animals into groups. The eight groups are beef and dairy cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, broiler and layer chickens, and horses. Buffaloes fall into the beef cattle category, and asses and mules are considered horses.

The water footprint an animal has, includes the indirect footprint of the feed, and the direct footprint of the drinking and service water consumed by the animal. The service water includes water used in cleaning the farms, animals, and maintaining the environment.

For the animals which are purposed after their slaughter-beef cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and broiler chickens,-it is helpful to look at they’re water footprint when they’re dead, due to the fact that they become products such as meat and leather. For dairy cattle and layer chickens, it is best to look at their foot print per year and relate it to it’s yearly production of milk and eggs.

When considering the water footprint related to animal’s feed it has two parts: the water footprint of the different feed ingredients, and the water that is used when mixing the feed.