This is a big question with a lot of parts. One of the
biggest contributors to global warming is believed to be methane from the digestive
tracts and the manure disposal processes of raising cattle and
pigs.
Additionally, large commercial agriculture uses a lot
of diesel-powered machinery, a lot of pesticide sprays, and kicks up a lot of dust. Also
the food tends to be trucked farther from farm to consumer, involving even more fuel
usage and more pollution.
As #1 suggested, clearing
forested land for agriculture is a problem too. The existing vegetation is usually
burned, releasing particulate and stored carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and also
reducing the land's ability to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thus
increasing the greenhouse effect.
No comments:
Post a Comment