Maybe I sound like a broken record, but it can’t be said often enough: EVERYTHING – humans, animals, plants, soil/earth, the weather/climate, the solar system etc. is connected. This isn’t just a poetic notion; just take your little finger: you can look at it, name it, it has a certain autonomy, but it is part of you in the most basic sense. Squish it and it hurts – YOU hurt.
Scientists have finally discovered the amazing network of collaboration and communication that exists between trees, shrubs, fungi, and other participants of a vast subterranean circuit system. Can we expand this and say that ants and beetles and grasshoppers also belong to this system? And what about squirrels and birds? Who knows, maybe future scientists will discover subtle chemical changes in trees and plants caused by birdsong. My point is that each creature has significance and plays a part in the environment where it finds itself. We humans disturb these connections at our peril.
According to the latest Living Planet Index, almost 70% of the earth’s wildlife populations have disappeared over the last 50 years. We are losing biodiversity – a million plant and animal species are threatened with extinction. Latin America shows the greatest regional decline in average population abundance (94%), while freshwater species populations have seen the greatest overall global decline (83%). Please let these numbers sink in – they are truly horrifying. To call this a crisis is an understatement.
To avoid any misunderstanding I want to point out that these numbers are averages referring to certain populations of a number of species. While it doesn’t mean that almost 70% of the world’s wildlife has been lost, the Living Planet Index only covers a tiny percentage of species: Only 16% of known bird species; 11% of mammals; 6% of fish; and 3% of amphibians and reptile species. Some populations may experience a more drastic decline than the average.
Food production plays a major role in this decline in animal population. Commercial fishing in oceans has resulted in overfishing – meaning that tuna f.e. can’t reproduce fast enough and their numbers are declining. “Bycatch” is another problem; dolphins, sea turtles, and seabirds get caught together with targeted species but will be discarded either dead or dying because they can’t be eaten. Freshwater populations are in stark decline because of habitat loss and barriers to migration routes, mainly human-built dams. Deforestation on land to make room for cattle grazing and animal feed crops are equally responsible for the loss of wildlife habitat and thus wild animals.
At the same time, the numbers of domesticated, farmed animals – chickens, pigs, cows, and farmed fish – has skyrocketed over the last 60 years, with more than 70 billion of them raised in factory farms each year. Animal welfare and environmental conservation take a back seat in preference to financial gain.
I was quite shocked to see that annual meat consumption in the US has steadily increased over the last 50 years, although this relates mainly to chickens while beef and pork actually decreased somewhat.2 Over the span of the more than twenty years that I’ve followed a vegan lifestyle I’ve noticed a steady increase and acceptance of vegetarian and vegan diets. This is most obvious in the comments to articles about meatless foods etc.: while 20 years ago the level of ridicule and criticism was skyhigh, nowadays they're almost always supportive and in favor of animal welfare. The number of vegans must have grown significantly, I thought. This is indeed the case for some countries such as Germany where meat consumption fell by 12.3% over the last decade. And in Sweden it fell by 9.2% – quite an achievement.
Maybe some people in these countries are more aware of the connection between the loss of wild animals and biodiversity, the rise in deforestation and domestic animal production, and climate emergency. After all, Greta Thunberg is Swedish. But we should all try to understand that both climate and biodiversity crises are like two sides of one coin. The Living Planet Report of 2022 calls it the global double emergency. If you are worried about increasingly hot summers, burning forests, catastrophic flooding, devastating hurricanes then you have to connect this with factory farming and deforestation. Cheap meat just isn’t sustainable.
The good news, for the planet and all its creatures including us humans, is that plant-based meat sales are up, both in the US and globally. Grocery sales of plant-based meat are estimated to have doubled around the world from 2017 to 2021, and the plant-based food market is expected to more than triple by 2023.3 This may result in better farming methods which minimize wildlife habitat and therefore biodiversity loss.
The climate crisis has become a matter of extreme urgency. It affects not only us and our children and grandchildren, but also every other living being on this planet. The intense misery and suffering of farmed animals affects us as well, even when we’re seemingly oblivious. But there is a growing awareness and recognition of the autonomy of sentient beings, a moral awakening of our relationship with other animals. We can all contribute to this widening circle of inclusion by reducing the harm that our eating habits cause. Most of us older folks grew up eating meat and dairy and fish. It’s a habit that’s actually quite easy to change once you realize that you’re hurting yourself, because the miserable creatures are like your poor relatives. You’ll feel ethically and morally responsible to help them lead a better life.
I’m bracketing this article with photos from outside of my house: the fall colors of the cottonwoods and oaks are at their peak. It’s easy to feel connected to nature when it’s so glorious…
And a quick “housekeeping” tip: when you get an email with my article and you click on the title, it will open in your browser which gives you access to all past articles in the archive. The icon in the top left corner opens the menu.
Awful state of affairs indeed. Autumn 🍂 is a colourful season. Just had a run in the local park and did some pictures alike yours. I am working on a story for children to let them know what bees do for us and how important they are to humanity. Every little bit counts!
I didn't know US has gone up! Being vegetarian here is easier than 10 years ago, so I figured there was progress :(
I think it would be good to compare price of meat vs vegetables for DE, SWE and the US. Many parts of the world consume less meat because its expensive. But once people get prosperous, economies of scale reduces prices and consumption goes up (E.g. India, a heavily vegetarian society, but meat intake is UP UP UP!) So maybe DE and SWE didn't give meat industries the tax breaks the US gives? I agree with you vegetarianism is more popular here than before, but I wonder if DE and SWE are due to awareness or just economics.
Meat also has a geopolitical angle (Shameless plug, sorry) but you'll find this relevant here:
https://climatonomics.substack.com/p/show-n-tell-sessions-1-where-do-the