Livestock and the Sixth Mass
Extinction
Is the sixth mass extinction already under way? Scientists
from Stanford, Berkeley, Princeton and UNAM University say
it is. This video explores this alarming conclusion, the
destructive role that livestock plays in this looming
crisis, and what scientists say we must do now to avoid an
ecosystem collapse.
Transcript
Sources
Credits
Is our species already the “walking dead”? According to a
report authored by scientists from Stanford University,
Berkeley, Princeton and UNAM University, we are likely facing
the sixth mass extinction in our planet’s history.
This beautiful planet where we live has been around about 4.5
billion years, and, in those years, it has faced five mass
extinctions thus far. The last one was about 65 million years
ago when the dinosaurs disappeared. All of the previous mass
extinctions have been caused by natural phenomena, like
meteors and volcanic eruptions.
But, it now looks like we are facing what could be the sixth
mass extinction, and, unlike the previous five, this one is
entirely man-made — caused by human activities like
deforestation and overfishing. Species are disappearing and
going extinct forever at a rate of 1,000 to 10,000 times
faster than normal.
And the experts think this will affect humans as well. They
pointed out that, “using extremely conservative assumptions”
which “likely underestimate”…”underestimate the [actual]
severity of the extinction crisis…, [t]hese estimates reveal
an exceptionally rapid loss of biodiversity over the last few
centuries, indicating that a sixth mass extinction is already
under way.” They repeated, “we can confidently conclude that
modern extinction rates are exceptionally high, that they are
increasing, and that they suggest a mass extinction [is] under
way — the sixth of its kind in Earth’s 4.5 billion years of
history.”
I can see how human activities like leveling forests and
overfishing are causing species to go extinct. But in my
selfish survival mode — in my selfish survival mind — I could
think, while this is a terrible thing, it’s not going to
directly affect humans, is it? If there are no more rhinos or
no more kangaroos, that’s a terrible thing. But, it’s not like
that would affect me personally, my way of life, right? But,
it’s not like that.
As the scientists behind this study point out, “The problem is
that our environment is like a brick wall. It will hold if you
pull [out] individual bricks, but eventually it [just takes]
one to make [everything] fall apart.” Biodiversity provides a
lot of critical functions that we don’t even think about —
from cleaning up the water and air, to bees and other animals
and birds pollinating plants.
But I do hope we can avoid this tragedy, and so do the
authors; but, they warn, “Averting a dramatic decay of
biodiversity and the subsequent loss of ecosystem services is
still possible through intensified conservation efforts, but
that window of opportunity is rapidly closing.”
As Dr. Anthony Barnosky, a scientist from U.C. Berkeley who
worked on this study, pointed out, “whatever we decide to do
in next 10 to 15 years will decide the future of biodiversity
on Earth.”
Such a narrow 10 to 15 year window to get this right. Should
we wait until year 9 or year 14 to get our act together?
Obviously not. This is an urgent matter. Action on a massive
scale is needed now. The one bit of good news is that there’s
actually something very practical and easy that we can all do
right now in our personal lives. Specifically, the scientists
behind this report ask that you do the following:
Number 1: Reduce your carbon footprint.
Number 2: Don’t buy products from endangered species
(that’s pretty obvious).
Number 3: The author says, “Eat less meat — 40% of the
Earth is…under cultivation, and if the lands used to
feed livestock were used to [grow] crops for people,
there would be 50 to 70% more calories available for
humans to eat, which is enough to feed [one] additional
billion people. It would eliminate the need to clear
natural ecosystems like rainforests for farmland[s].”
That’s right!
products.
Livestock.
Meat,
dairy
and
other
animal
According to the United Nations’ 2006 report Livestock’s Long
Shadow, “the livestock sector may well be the leading player
in the reduction of biodiversity, since it is the major driver
of deforestation, as well as one of the leading drivers of
land degradation, pollution, climate change, overfishing,
sedimentation of coastal areas and facilitation [of invasions]
by alien species.” They also say the following: “livestock
production accounts for 70 percent of all agricultural land
and 30 percent of [all of] the land surface [on] the planet.”
Is it really worth sacrificing our planet for our palate
pleasure? Speaking of sacrificing, don’t forget the health
aspects. Is it also worth sacrificing our health for our old
habits of eating these foods? I’m a physician and I both eat
and recommend a plant-based vegan diet. Protein is abundant in
plant foods, and without all the problematic aspects of animal
foods, which include increased risk of cardiovascular disease,
certain cancers, among many other health problems.
And speaking of sacrificing, we don’t deserve to shield
ourselves from the suffering of the animals behind our food
choices. Even if I’m not directly killing animals, when I pay
for animal products at a restaurant or at a store, I’m
indirectly paying for someone else to inflict harm and
suffering on animals on my behalf. Animals are being killed by
the billions in horrible conditions, after enduring horrible
lives — just because we breed them into existence for a life
of misery — just so we can eat their flesh and secretions.
Let’s not sacrifice our planet to eat something that’s
unhealthy, unnecessary and needlessly inflicts immense
suffering and terror upon billions of sentient animals. If
you’re not doing so already, I urge you to leave animals and
animal products off of your plates forever –- for your own
health, for the planet’s survival, and for the animals. Thank
you very much.
This transcript is an approximation of the audio in above
video. To hear the audio and see the accompanying visuals,
please play the video.
• G Ceballos, PR Ehrlich, AD Barnosky, A García, RM Pringle
and TM Palmer. Accelerated Modern Human–Induced Species
Losses: Entering the Sixth Mass Extinction. Science Advances.
2015 Jun: Vol. 1, no. 5, e1400253. Available here (accessed
Apr. 12, 2016).
• A Singh. A New Mass Extinction Could Be Underway,
Researchers Say. CNN Online U.S. Edition. 2015 Jun. Available
here (accessed Apr. 12, 2016).
• H Steinfeld, P Gerber, T Wassenaar, V Castel, M Rosales and
C. de Haan. Livestock’s Long Shadow – Environmental Issues and
Options. United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization.
2006 Nov. Available here (accessed Apr. 12, 2016).
This video was written and narrated by Sofia Pineda Ochoa, MD,
and edited by Bob Rapfogel.
This presentation may contain copyrighted material whose use
has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner.
Meat Your Future is using such material in its efforts to
advance the public’s understanding of the implications of
animal consumption on health, the environment and ethics. We
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Without limiting the foregoing, this presentation also
includes the following (in order of appearance in the video):
Footage of planet Earth from
International Space Station ISS.
orbit
from
NASA
Footage of extinction tombstones, the dead dinosaur and
asteroid impact from (1) Discovery Channel, How
Dinosaurs Went Extinct; and (2) NOVA scienceNOW, Mass
Extinction.
The photograph of deforestation was created by Flickr
user “crustmania” under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
Generic License.
The photograph of fishing boats is credited to
HAP/Quirky China News/REX.
The photograph of the rhinoceros in Kruger National
Park, South Africa was created by Chris Eason under
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.
The photograph of the kangaroo was created by Nigel
Swales under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
License.
The photograph of the feedlot in California’s Imperial
Valley created by Pete McBride of National Geographic.
The following photographs were created by Jo-Anne
McArthur (creator of We Animals and featured
photographer in The Ghosts in Our Machine): (1) confined
pigs, (2) sheep crowded into a transport truck in
Australia, (3) pigs “the act of dying”, (4) pigs at
slaughter in Canada, and (5) dairy farm veal calf.
The photograph of caged hens by Igualdad Animal from
Woodstock Farm Sanctuary’s “Chickens for Eggs” webpage.
The photograph of a cow being hoisting during slaughter
is from Animals Australia’s Israel live export
investigation 2015.