Global Warming: Genesis, Facts and Impacts on Livestock Farming and Mitigation Strategies (original) (raw)
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India has one of the largest cattle population in the world and also has an over increasing livestock population. The reason for increase in the greenhouse gases is not only the over exploitation of natural resources, but livestock also play a role in this by emanating methane due to rumen microbial fermentation. In this climate change era, need is to evolve scientific, technological, economic and political solutions to address the challenges in the animal busbandry sector.
Review on: Livestock Production and Global Climate Change
Journal of environment and earth science, 2016
Livestock productions are changing rapidly in response to a variety of drivers as human population is expected to increase from around 6.5 billion today to 9.2 billion by 2050. This paper reviews on livestock production and global climate change. The effect of climate on animal production is categorized in to four ways: (a) the impact of changes in livestock feed availability and price; (b) impacts on livestock pastures and forage crop production and quality; (c) changes in the distribution of livestock diseases and pests; and (d) the direct effects of weather and extreme events on animal health, growth and reproduction. Livestock and livestock-related activities such as deforestation and increasingly fuel-intensive farming practices are responsible for over 18% of human-made greenhouse gas emissions, including: 9% of global carbon dioxide emissions, 35-40% of global methane emissions (chiefly due to enteric fermentation and manure), 64% of global nitrous oxide emissions (chiefly du...
Global Climate Change: Role of Livestock
Climate change is seen as a major threat to the survival of many species, ecosystems and the sustainability of livestock production systems in many parts of the world. Green house gases (GHG) are released in the atmosphere both by natural sources and anthropogenic (human related) activities. An attempt has been made in this article to understand the contribution of ruminant livestock to climate change and to identify the mitigation strategies to reduce enteric methane emission in livestock. The GHG emissions from the agriculture sector account for about 25.5% of total global radiative forcing and over 60% of anthropogenic sources. Animal husbandry accounts for 18% of GHG emissions that cause global warming. Reducing the increase of GHG emissions from agriculture, especially livestock production should therefore be a top priority, because it could curb warming fairly rapidly. Among the GHGs, CH 4 is considered to be the largest potential contributor to the global warming phenomenon. Ruminant livestock such as cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats contributes the major proportion of total agricultural emission of methane. Indian livestock system is a large contributor to GHGs and therefore also to the global warming phenomenon. Methane emission from enteric fermentation from Indian livestock ranged from 7.26 to 10.4 MT/year. In India more than 90% of the total methane emission from enteric fermentation is being contributed by the large ruminants (cattle and buffalo) and rest from small ruminants and others. Generally CH 4 reduction strategies can be grouped under two broad categories such as management and nutritional strategies. Although the reduction in GHG emissions from livestock industries are seen as high priorities, strategies for reducing emissions should not reduce the economic viability of enterprises if they are to find industry acceptability.
Impact of climate change on livestock
ABESTRACT The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) acknowledges climate change as one of the factors affecting rural poverty and as one of the challenges it needs to address. While climate change is a global phenomenon, its negative impacts are more severely felt by poor people in developing countries who rely heavily on the natural resource base for their livelihoods. Agriculture and livestock keeping are amongst the most climate-sensitive economic sectors and rural poor communities are more exposed to the effects of climate change. Livestock production occupies 70% of agricultural land, and 30% of the ice-free land surface of the planet! It is responsible for 40% of global agricultural GDP, and is both a contributor to global environmental problems, and part of the solution. Climate can affect livestock both directly and indirectly (Adams et al., 1999, McCarthy et al., 2001). Direct effects from air temperature, humidity, wind speed and other climate factors influence animal performance such as growth, milk production, wool production and reproduction. Climate can also affect the quantity and quality of feedstuffs such as pasture, forage and grain, and the severity and distribution of livestock diseases and parasites. Global demand for livestock products is expected to double during the first half of this century, as a result of the growing human population, and its growing affluence. Over the same period, we expect big changes in the climate globally. The dramatic expansion of crop production for biofuels is already impacting on the resources available globally for food production, and hence on food supply and cost. Food security remains one of the highest priority issues in developing countries, and livestock production has a key role in many of these countries. However, food security is re-emerging as an important issue in many developed countries that had previously regarded it as 'solved'. These interconnected issues are creating immense pressure on the planet's resources. The IPCC predicts that by 2100 the increase in global average surface temperature may be between 1.8°C and 4.0°C. With increases of 1.5°C to 2.5°C, approximately 20 to 30 per cent of plant and animal species are expected to be at risk of extinction (FAO, 2007) with severe consequences for food security in developing countries. Responses to climate change include (i) adaptation, to reduce the vulnerability of people and ecosystems to climatic changes, and (ii) mitigation, to reduce the magnitude of climate change impact in the long term. However, neither adaptation nor mitigation alone can offset all climate change impacts. To respond to this threat it will be necessary to focus both on mitigation, to reduce the level of emission of gases contributing to global warming, and on adaptation, to support local communities in dealing with the impacts.
International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 2022
Livestock production and health are significantly affected by climate change which has direct and indirect impacts on the productivity of the animals. Disturbances in ecosystems occur due to global climate change and which affects the animal production system and also allows the prevalence of many animal diseases since they are interrelated to each other. Livestock production has widely contributed to increasing global emission of greenhouse gases through rumen fermentation which makes livestock activity the main promoter of climate change. Global climate change has deleterious effects on animal health, reproduction, mortality, and production. Such impact can be reduced by modifying livestock diets through alterations in forage-concentrate ratios, supplementation of feed additives, shelter management, and prevention of disease outbreaks. This review focuses on the mitigation strategies necessary to be implemented in the animal agriculture sector addressing animal welfare overall.
Climate Change Impacts on Livestock Production Systems: A Review
Annals of Tropical Research, 2014
The socio-economic contribution of livestock production to global livelihood and food security offsets its negative effects on the environment through greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. Livestocks are emitters of GHGs, carbon dioxide (CO2) from land conversion and deforestation, nitrous oxide (N2O) from manure and slurry, and methane (CH4) from animal digestion which significantly contribute to climate change. Climate change has both direct and indirect impacts on animal farming. Thus, the main concern nowadays is toward the development of programs for adaptation and mitigation of GHG emissions. This review provides knowledge about climate change impacts on livestock production systems with the identification of strategies for livestock adaptation to climate change and mitigation of GHG emissions.
Impact of Climate Change on Livestock Production: A Review
Climate change is seen as a major threat to the survival of many species, ecosystems and the sustainability of livestock production systems in many parts of the world. Green house gases (GHG) are released in the atmosphere both by natural sources and anthropogenic (human related) activities. An attempt has been made in this article to understand the contribution of ruminant livestock to climate change and to identify the mitigation strategies to reduce enteric methane emission in livestock. In Indian subcontinent, heat stress is the most important climatic stress. Heat stress adversely affecting productive and reproductive performance of livestock, and hence reducing the total area where high yielding dairy cattle may be economically reared. The livestock sector which will be a sufferer of climate change is itself a large source of methane emissions contributing about 18% of total enteric methane budget. Ruminant livestock such as cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats contributes the major proportion of total agricultural emission of methane .In India, although the emission rate per animal is much lower than the developed countries, due to vast livestock population the total annual methane emissions from Indian livestock ranged from 7.26 to 10.4 MT/year. In India more than 90% of the total methane emission from enteric fermentation is being contributed by the large ruminants (cattle and buffalo) and rest from small ruminants and others. Generally CH4 reduction strategies can be grouped under two broad categories such as management and nutritional strategies. Although the reduction in GHG emissions from livestock industries are seen as high priorities, strategies for reducing emissions should not reduce the economic viability of enterprises if they are to find industry acceptability.
Livestock and climate change: impact of livestock on climate and mitigation strategies
Animal Frontiers, 2018
Implications The livestock sector requires a significant amount of natural resources and has an important role in global greenhouse gas emissions. The most important greenhouse gases from animal agriculture are methane and nitrous oxide. Mitigation strategies aimed at reducing the emission intensity of this sector are needed to meet the increasing demand for livestock products driven by population growth. To increase the effectiveness of mitigation strategies, the complex interactions among the components of livestock production systems must be taken into account to avoid environmental trade-offs.
Livestock and Global Climate Change
2008
Livestock production occupies 70% of agricultural land, and 30% of the ice-free land surface of the planet! It is responsible for 40% of global agricultural GDP, and is both a contributor to global environmental problems, and part of the solution. Global demand for livestock products is expected to double during the first half of this century, as a result of the growing human population, and its growing affluence. Over the same period, we expect big changes in the climate globally. The dramatic expansion of crop production for biofuels is already impacting on the resources available globally for food production, and hence on food supply and cost. Food security remains one of the highest priority issues in developing countries, and livestock production has a key role in many of these countries. However, food security is re-emerging as an important issue in many developed countries that had previously regarded it as 'solved'. These interconnected issues are creating immense pressure on the planet's resources. We need high quality animal science to help meet rising demand for livestock products in an environmentally and socially responsible way. Against this backdrop, the conference organisers felt that there was an urgent need to bring interested parties together to review the latest scientific findings on predictions of climate change and how these will affect livestock production, to examine the contribution that livestock production makes to these changes and how it can help to mitigate them, to consider how livestock production systems can adapt to climate change, and to consider future scientific priorities to help in these areas. The very strong international line-up of presenters confirms our view of the timeliness and importance of the subject. We hope that all delegates will engage fully with presenters, and each other, to ensure that we all leave with a much clearer vision of the livestock and production systems that we need in future, and the science and technology interaction we need to help us realise that vision. We are very grateful to the Government of Tunisia for hosting this important event, and we are pleased that Tunisia, a country of openness and understanding, in which the international scientific community can address the challenges that climate change brings to our planet is a most appropriate venue. Our partners and hosts in Tunisia have worked tirelessly to ensure a successful conference, especially the Ministry of Agriculture and Hydraulic Resources and Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development. The choice of Tunisia as the location for this conference was partly to allow others to learn from the experience of those already used to coping with extreme climatic events. We are confident that the mix of scientists, practitioners and policy makers from so many different regions will prove very stimulating. We are also very grateful indeed to the sponsors of this meeting, whose support has enabled such wide participation.