The Climate Threat Hidden in Your Hamburger
Land-use emissions from traded agricultural products like beef and palm oil account for a quarter of the world’s total, according to a new report.
“Land-use emissions” account for about 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions and mostly occur in poorer countries that export food to the United States, Europe, China.
Photographer: Ivan Valencia/BloombergThat hamburger you just ate may be more carbon-intensive than you think. Researchers have for the first time quantified rising greenhouse gas emissions embodied in the international trade of specific agricultural products like beef that results in deforestation.
Such “land-use emissions” account for about 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions and mostly occur in poorer countries that export food to the United States, Europe, China and other industrialized regions, according to a peer-reviewed paper published May 6 in the journal Science. “These land-use emissions are substantial enough to threaten international climate goals even if fossil fuel emissions are drastically reduced,” the paper stated.