It also exposes the underground trade of surplus zoo animals, which continues because of the lacking enforcement of current laws. Using the elephant as a case study, this paper exposes the inadequacies of our existing laws, which have resulted in unfortunate incidents nationwide. Voluntary associations such as the American Zoo Association set higher standards of care for their members, in some instances, than the minimum standards set forth in the Animal Welfare Act. State laws consist of anti-cruelty statutes that come into force only after a violation has occurred. The ESA applies to those animals listed as threatened or endangered, but even then exhibition alone will never constitute a violation. The AWA sets minimum standards for the care, handling, housing, and transport of animals exhibited in zoos. On the federal level, those laws most important to zoo animals are the Animal Welfare Act and the Endangered Species Act. On the international level there are only regulations which apply to the trade of the species between international countries, limiting how many can be imported and exported and how they are transported.
“While previous estimates have been made, this effort represents a gold standard that will serve as an essential reference in the years to come.This paper examines the laws pertaining to zoo animals on the international, federal, and state level, along with voluntary standards, not mandated by law. “A fundamental unknown in global agriculture is its impact on greenhouse gas emissions,” Ziska said. Lewis Ziska, a plant physiologist at Columbia University who was not involved in the research said the paper is a “damn good study” that should be given “due attention” at the upcoming UN climate talks in Scotland. Meat production has now expanded to the point that there are now approximately three chickens for every human on the planet. Scientists have consistently stressed that if dangerous global heating is to be avoided, a major rethink of eating habits and farming practices is required. The climate crisis is also itself a cause of hunger, with a recent study finding that a third of global food production will be at risk by the end of the century if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise at their current rate. The paper’s calculations of the climate impact of meat is higher than previous estimates – the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization has said about 14% of all emissions come from meat and diary production. Food-related emissions have grown rapidly in China and India as increasing wealth and cultural changes have led more younger people in these countries to adopt meat-based diets. They found that South America is the region with the largest share of animal-based food emissions, followed by south and south-east Asia and then China. The researchers built a database that provided a consistent emissions profile of 171 crops and 16 animal products, drawing data from more than 200 countries. But if people are concerned about climate change, they should seriously consider changing their dietary habits.” You can’t just impose your views on others. “A lot of this comes down to personal choice. “I’m a strict vegetarian and part of the motivation for this study was to find out my own carbon footprint, but it’s not our intention to force people to change their diets,” said Jain.
The researchers said that societies should be aware of this significant discrepancy when addressing the climate crisis. A single kilo of beef, meanwhile, creates 70kg of emissions. The difference in emissions between meat and plant production is stark – to produce 1kg of wheat, 2.5kg of greenhouse gases are emitted.
You need more biomass to feed animals in order to get the same amount of calories. “To produce more meat you need to feed the animals more, which then generates more emissions. “All of these things combined means that the emissions are very high,” said Xiaoming Xu, another University of Illinois researcher and the lead author of the paper. Livestock also produce large quantities of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. The paper calculates that the majority of all the world’s cropland is used to feed livestock, rather than people. Grazing animals require a lot of land, which is often cleared through the felling of forests, as well as vast tracts of additional land to grow their feed. Animal-based food production contributes to the most emissions
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