Meat Alternatives Key to Climate Change

WASHINGTONSoy and other meat alternatives are the best strategy to reversing climate change, say Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang, co-authors of "Livestock and Climate Change," published in the latest issue of World Watch magazine. The say animals raised for food account for half of all human-caused greenhouse gases (GHGs), which has been underestimated. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates in a 2006 report that 18 percent of the human-made GHGs come from cattle,  buffalo, sheep, goats, camels, pigs and poultry. However, the co-authors state their research finds livestock and their byproducts account for at lease 32.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, or 51 percent of annual worldwide GHG emissions. They state previous calculations underestimated and overlooked emission sources, including livestock respiration, land use and methane.