Essay: Vegetarianism's Impact On The Environment.

Counter Agreement 1

Discuss About The Fertilizer Produces Far More Greenhouse Gas.

In the modern world, there are has been a rise in the awareness towards the diet that is consumed by human beings. The diet of the human beings varies and therefore different kinds of products are consumed by them. In the simplest way, human beings can be segregated according to their diet on the basis of being vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Vegetarians are the one who abstains from consuming any kind of meat items and therefore consumes only vegetables and fruits and on the other hand non-vegetarians are the one who prefers to eat both vegetables as well as meat items. The current essay that has been taken into consideration therefore has an interesting topic where a discussion would be made based on whether vegetarianism is helpful in saving the planet. There have been several arguments that have been made on this topic and refutation to the arguments would be explained in this essay so that the effectiveness of vegetarianism would be understood.

It is known that vegetation in the current time period is done with the help of various kinds of insecticides, pesticides and fertilizers and these chemicals that are used comprise of various kinds of chemicals. These chemicals emit several kinds of hazardous gases like carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide that have an impact on the atmosphere of the earth (Wu 2014). The emission of these kinds of gases from the fertilizers, pesticides as well as the insecticides increases the average temperature and thereby is one of the extensive factors leading to the rise in the green house gases within the atmosphere. The fertilizers that are used in the soil directly have an impact on the soil and therefore have an impact on the soil. Cheng, Lin and Tsai (2014) addressed the fact that the average temperature of the earth as well as the soil temperature all over the globe has been increasing by 1ºC every year. The overload of the fertilizer and the soil microbes bring in increased level of nitrous oxide, any greenhouse gases with 300 times of heat trapping capacity. It is seen that 100 kgs of fertilizer used is able to emit 1 kg of greenhouse gases and therefore it is a huge margin of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (Mole 2014). Hence, vegetarianism is one of the factors that lead to the rise in the extent of hazardous gases in the atmosphere.

Refutation 1

Arora et al. (2017) explained that vegetarianism is one of the factors that help in the reduction of hazardous gases in the atmosphere. Cohan (2016) on the other hand, referred to the fact that livestock farming emits more heat and other kinds of gases that increases the emission rate on earth and even increases the extent of average soil and air temperature.  The rise in the demand for meat consumption has increased the extent of livestock farming. It is seen that livestock farming involves the use of high voltage light in order to create artificial heat that is required in order to give birth to the infants and even enhance their growth to the animals. There are other tools like Infared lights etc are used in order to increase the growth rate of the animals and the heat and gas that is produced through these activities increases the average temperature. It is seen that livestock farming contributes to about 6 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases every year and this may end up to around 18% of the emissions done globally (The Conversation 2016).

On the other hand, vegetarianism assists in the reduction of these kinds of emissions as it is seen that the rise in the extent of vegetation would be reduce this extra gases from the atmosphere as it is known for the purpose of photosynthesis, plants use carbon dioxide and certain plants extract nitrous oxides in order to create nitrogen in their roots. Hence, it can be said that plants and vegetation is helpful in the reduction in the emission of the gases from the atmosphere and there reduces the extent of global morning.

The next agreement that is taken into consideration is that vegetarianism would lead to the loss of bio-diversity. This has been mainly due to the fact that vegetarians increase the extent vegetable consumption and thereby leads to the loss of the bio-diversity. The loss of bio diversity due to the cutting of the crops and the vegetables creates an imbalance in the environment which in a way would hamper the ecosystem. The loss of biodiversity is seen due to the fact that over 18% of the overall grassland has been used up for the purpose of vegetation and therefore biodiversity is affected. The loss of the bio diversity would even have an impact on the wild animals as they would be facing problems with respect to their food as well. It is seen that 21% of the mammals, 35% of the invertebrates and 30% of the amphibians are facing the issue of extinction (Team 2013). Therefore, this is another issue that is created due to the rise in the extent of vegetarianism.

Counter Agreement 2

Every issue has their own refutation as it is seen that in accordance to the argument that is given, Biermann (2014) explained that vegetarianism would increase the production of green vegetables and these green vegetables and the plants are helpful in the rise in the production of oxygen in the atmosphere. This leads to the maintenance of balance in the ecosystem as the water cycle remains stable as well. The rise in the consumption of vegetables would reduce the consumption of meat and therefore a balance would be maintained in accordance to wild life and plants in the ecosystem. The emissions that are seen from the production of meat globally is seen to be 2837 million tons of carbon dioxide and on the other hand milk production accounts for 1419 million of carbon dioxide and hence can be said that vegetarianism is helpful in the development of the environment (Vegan Biologist 2016).    

This argument in relation to vegetarianism addresses the fact that rise in the demand for vegetable consumption leads to the increase in the production of the same. It is due to this fact that deforestation is taking place as more and more land is being used up in order to increase the extent of production (Nuwer 2018). This is a massive hamper for the ecosystem as well as deforestation loosens the grip of the soil and thereby increases the chances of soil erosion in the environment. It is even seen that deforestation has an impact on the wild life as well as they lose their abode and thereby chances of animals entering the urban areas increases. There has been a rise in animals entering the urban area and therefore 15% of wild life has entered the urban area in the last 5 years (The Independent 2018). Therefore, one can say that vegetarianism has an impact on the ecosystem as a whole.

In accordance to the argument that is given earlier, one can say that vegetarianism assists in the development of the ecosystem. Mail Online (2015) addressed the fact that the use of crop rotation in the process of manufacture of vegetable improves the nutrition of the soil. It is seen that nutrition of the soil gets affected with the production of same kind of plant but it is seen that the use of crop rotation, i.e production of different kinds of plants in the same land at different period of time enhances the nutrition of the soil and thereby enriches it with the help of which the development of the ecosystem is possible. In each of 2000 to 4000 pound per acre there has been an increase of 100 to 300 pounds of phosphorous per acre (Nationwide 2018). Therefore, vegetarianism is helpful to the society as well to the ecosystem.

Conclusion

The assessment of the counter agreements as well as to the refutations given for each of them have highlighted that vegetarianism has advantages and disadvantages as well and various researchers and personnel have their own opinion over it. However, it can be said that even though there are disadvantages present, the benefits of vegetarianism are much more and therefore one can say that vegetarianism would be helpful in the development of the world.  

Reference List

Arora, A.S., Bradford, S., Arora, A. and Gavino, R., 2017. Promoting Vegetarianism through Moralization and Knowledge Calibration. Journal of Promotion Management, 23(6), pp.889-912.

Biermann, F., 2014. The Anthropocene: A governance perspective. The Anthropocene Review, 1(1), pp.57-61.

Cheng, C.H., Lin, S.Y. and Tsai, C.C., 2014. Investigating Consumer Preferences in Choosing Vegetarian Restaurants Using Conjoint Analysis. Current Urban Studies, 2(03), p.279.

Cohan, J., 2016. Judaism and Veganism: Time for a Reunion. Tikkun, 31(2).

Mail Online. (2015). Could vegetarianism save the world?. [online] Available at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3154785/Could-vegetarianism-save-world-away-meat-cut-greenhouse-emissions-boost-biodiversity-study-claims.html [Accessed 22 Jun. 2018].

Mole, B. (2014). Fertilizer produces far more greenhouse gas than expected. [online] Science News. Available at: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/fertilizer-produces-far-more-greenhouse-gas-expected [Accessed 22 Jun. 2018].

Nationwide, S. (2018). Crop Rotation Effects on Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrition. [online] Sare.org. Available at: https://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/Crop-Rotation-on-Organic-Farms/Text-Version/Physical-and-Biological-Processes-In-Crop-Production/Crop-Rotation-Effects-on-Soil-Fertility-and-Plant-Nutrition [Accessed 22 Jun. 2018].

Nuwer, R. (2018). What would happen if the world suddenly went vegetarian?. [online] Bbc.com. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160926-what-would-happen-if-the-world-suddenly-went-vegetarian [Accessed 22 Jun. 2018].

Team, N. (2013). Why a Vegan diet is the best solution for halting biodiversity loss - The Supreme Master Ching Hai News Magazine. [online] The Supreme Master Ching Hai News Magazine. Available at: https://news.godsdirectcontact.net/why-a-vegan-diet-is-the-best-solution-for-halting-biodiversitly-loss/ [Accessed 22 Jun. 2018].

The Conversation. (2016). To reduce greenhouse gases from cows and sheep, we need to look at the big picture. [online] Available at: https://theconversation.com/to-reduce-greenhouse-gases-from-cows-and-sheep-we-need-to-look-at-the-big-picture-56509 [Accessed 22 Jun. 2018].

The Independent. (2018). Why being vegan isn’t as environmentally friendly as you might think. [online] Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/veganism-environment-veganuary-friendly-food-diet-damage-hodmedods-protein-crops-jack-monroe-a8177541.html [Accessed 22 Jun. 2018].

Vegan Biologist. (2016). Eating biodiversity. [online] Available at: https://veganbiologist.com/2016/01/07/eating-biodiversity/ [Accessed 22 Jun. 2018].

Wu, J.Y., 2014. Everyone Vegetarian, World Enriching. Open Journal of Philosophy, 4(02), p.160.