this post was submitted on 31 Dec 2023
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Environment
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It's not just a matter of the number of people. The per capita consumption of meat is higher than it was decades ago
I'm just saying no matter what green initiatives we take won't really help because there's too many people. On no scale is feeding this increasing number of people going to be environmentally viable.
It's far from true to say it won't really help. Animal agriculture is substantially more inefficient than many realize
That's not mentioning that the land use reduction has the potential truly massive portions of CO2. Even just reducing a bit is enough to potentially end up sequestering 14 years worth of agricultural emissions
If we look at fully plant-based diets, we can reduce land and sequester enough to almost help us reach climate targets on its own
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-00603-4
Keep in mind these models are usually accounting for population (peaking around ~10 billion). Is population growth making emissions worse, sure, but these changes can still be large despite that
Unfortunately, convincing people to have fewer children is likely to be significantly more challenging than convincing them to eat less beef.
Unfortunately you're very right. Alternatively nature is very potent at equalizing. Let's watch how that unfolds
It's a shame, because it would do wonders for the environment if people just cut down on both: beef once a week instead of several times a day, and 1-2 kids instead of 3 or more. Both would be more special for being enjoyed in smaller quantities, too.