The planet has warmed by about 1.1 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times. This is enough to make the climate more extreme. Scientists believe that greenhouse gas emissions from the food system alone could warm the planet by another degree.
Fortunately, there are ways to avoid this bleak scenario. But we will need to rethink how we handle farming, eating and food waste. The scientists evaluated how badly different foods pollute the environment and then modeled how each food contributed to global warming by 2100.
It turns out that several food groups are responsible for 75% of global warming. These are foods that release a lot of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. These include beef and other ruminant meats, rice and dairy products.
Interestingly, the researchers don’t need anything extreme, not even vegetarianism. All you have to do is follow the Harvard Medical School healthy eating guidelines. These recommendations include a protein-rich diet that reduces saturated fat and cholesterol intake. This could lead people in rich countries to cut back on meat consumption.
Source: Ferra
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