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Table of Contents
Water Use
Water Use
Livestock farming uses between 70 and 90% of global water use. Farmers have been extracting water for livestock and their feed faster than our natural water cycle can replenish these ancient water sources.
Aquifer levels are dropping, rivers are drying up, and dead zones being created by their massive amounts of manure run off. After decades of ignoring the warning signs, these effects are increasingly impacting major cities.
Unfortunately water use is only part of the problem. Contamination from livestock manure, human sewage, field runoff (particularly pesticides, antibiotics, and fertilizers) all contribute to make once-clean water less safe to drink for everyone. Around 2/3 of the world's rivers now have worrying levels of antibiotics, which are increasingly used in livestock, and are becoming increasingly useless against infectious disease.
The increasing levels of nutrient waste has led to a noticeable increase in toxic algae blooms and dead zones in bays, lakes, and oceans.
Water Pollution
Water Pollution
Manure Run Off
Manure Run Off
Nitrites Nitrates in Drinking Water
Nitrites Nitrates in Drinking Water
Erosion From Grazing Impacts Waterways
Erosion From Grazing Impacts Waterways
Cattle have a habit of congregating around and in waterways where their hooves dislodge the soil. Over time the soil and plant roots holding it together become so damaged the soil ends up being washed away, causing significant erosion over time. Nutrient loss on land coincides with waterway pollution from livestock allowed to roam too close. - Cattle Destroy Streams
Livestock Emissions Cause Acidification
Livestock Emissions Cause Acidification
Ammonia and nitrous oxide produce acid rain, which impacts soil and water. Acidification of aquatic ecosystems harms corals, crustaceans, and many other species including the casings for their eggs.
Crop Fertilizer Contamination
Crop Fertilizer Contamination
Wastewater sludge used to produce livestock feed has been found to contain PFAS.
PFAS is a dangerous chemical that has been found to bioaccumulate in animals meat, milk, and eggs.
Click the PFAS button to learn more about the sources of PFAS, it's affects on people, what products to avoid or consider switching to avoid them.
Click the PFAS Cleanup button to learn about how PFAS can be removed from water, soil, and even human bodies.
Livestock's Impact on The Water Cycle
Livestock's Impact on The Water Cycle
Deforestation impairs the water cycle, and since beef is responsible for 5 times more deforestation than any other industry, we can safely say that the disruption of "rivers in the sky" historically produced by rainforests can be attributed at least in part to the meat and feed industries.
Land Subsidence
Land Subsidence
One example of the extremes caused by the rate of water extraction for livestock, especially in places experiencing more extreme temperatures and droughts is that of land subsidence.
As farmers drill deeper for dwindling ground water, the ground continues to sink, causing damage to buildings and infrastructure including dams.
As ground water falls, it becomes increasingly impossible for plant roots to reach, and as the ground dries out, it repels water, so that even when it does rain, that rain (rather than percolating deep into the ground as it can in healthy soil) it tends to pool into flooding and strip away topsoil down stream, causing further ecological damage in the process. As more topsoil is stripped away, and there are less roots to hold the remaining soil in place, this process tends to speed up, making it increasingly difficult or even impossible to continue farming in these areas.
Solutions
Solutions
Preventing Ground Subsidence and Groundwater Loss
Preventing Ground Subsidence and Groundwater Loss
Saudi Arabia made it illegal to grow feed crops such as wheat and alfalfa in their drought-stricken region, instead buying up farm land in wetter countries, to use their water resources for Saudi Arabia's dairy industry.
Resources
Resources
North America
North America
USA
USA
California
State Wildlife Action Plan "A plan for conserving California's wildlife resources while responding to environmental challenges"
Organizations
Organizations
Further Reading
Further Reading
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