Notes
Chapter 1
1. Supreme Master TV, “Climate Change Public Service Announcements: What the VIPs Say,” SupremeMasterTV.com/bbs/tb.php/sos_video/17.
2. The UN study referred to here is Henning Steinfeld et al., Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2006.
3. Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang found that “livestock contributes to 32,564 million tons of GHG annually, which equals 51percent of global GHG emissions.” See their article, “Livestock and Climate Change,” World Watch Magazine, (Nov/ Dec, 2009), 10-19. http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6294.
4. Ibid, 11.
5. This is because when grain is fed to animals reared for human consumption, 90% of the energy from the original grain is lost.
6. Supreme Master TV, “Climate Change Public Service Announcements.”
7. Lucas Reijnders and Sam Soret, “Quantification of the Environmental Impact of Different Dietary Protein Choices,” The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 78, No. 3 (September 2003), 664S-668S. http://www.ajcn.org/content/78/3/664S.full.
8. World Food Programme, “Hunger Stats,” http://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats.
9. UNEP, Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Consumption and Production. June, 2010. http://www.unep.fr/scp/publications/details.asp?id=DTI/1262/PA.
10. Goodland and Anhang, “Livestock and Climate Change”, 15.
11. See Elke Stehfest et al., “Climate Benefits of Changing Diet.” Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. Available online at http://www.pbl.nl/en/publications/2009/Climate-benefits-of-changing-diet.html.
12. This study by the SIWI and IWMI (Stockholm International Water Institute and International Water Management Institute), “Saving Water from Field to Fork” (May 2008) found that 70% of clean water is fed to livestock. http://www.siwi.org/ documents/Resources/Policy_Briefs/PB_From_Filed_to_Fork_2008.pdf. The Center for International Forestry Research (Indonesia) states that 60-70 percent of deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest results from cattle ranches. See the Center for International Forestry Research, “The Impact of the Growing Demand for Beef on the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil,” April 2, 2004, http://www.mongabay.com/external/brazil_beef_amazon.htm. Also see Cees de Haan et al., Livestock and the Environment: Finding a Balance, Chapter 2. http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/programmes/en/lead/toolbox/FAO/Main1/index.htm.
13. In an article published in The Guardian, April 15, 2008, columnist George Monbiot quotes the FAO’s statistics and states, “While 100m tons of food will be diverted this year to feed cars, 760 m tonnes will be snatched from the mouths of humans to feed animals. This could cover the global food deficit 14 times. If you care about hunger, eat less meat.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/15/food.biofuels?INTCMP=SRCH.
14.This is Supreme Master Ching Hai’s own estimation. It corresponds with data presented in recent scientific studies. For example, based on the Stern Review, it is estimated that by the year 2050 the cost of adapting to climate change could be anywhere from $10 to $40 trillion per year. See Nicolas Stern et al., The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review. HM Treasury, 2006. In February 2009 the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency published a new report including recommendations for Dutch and international policies on environmental sustainability. The report concludes that 70% of climate-change-mitigation costs could be saved through a global shift to a meat-free diet, with 80% being saved through a diet free of all animal products (a vegan diet) “The overall net present value of mitigation costs over the 2000–2050 period in both NoRM(no meat from ruminants) and NoM(no meat) are reduced by 70% compared to the reference case (0.3% of GDP and not 1%) and by even more than 80% in the NoAP case (Table 6)” (page 14). Also “In the Healthy Diet variant, for example, cumulative emissions are reduced by about 20%, while costs are reduced by more than 50%”(giving $20 trillion) (page 15). Using the Stern Report values, potential savings of $28 trillion and $32 trillion respectively are projected.
15. Ibid.
Chapter 2
16. NASA climate scientist Jay Zwally describes the urgency of the situation as follows: “The Arctic Ocean could be nearly ice-free at the end of summer 2012, much faster than previous predictions.” See “Arctic Ice ‘could be gone in five years’.” The Telegraph, December 12, 2007. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/3318239/Arcticice-could-be-gone-in-five-years.html.
17. Scientists from the National Snow and Ice Data Center have found that in the year 2009, ice older than two years accounted for less than 10% of the ice cover at the end of February. See “Arctic Sea Ice Younger, Thinner as Melt Season Begins,” in Arctic Ice News and Analysis, April 6, 2009, http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2009/040609.html.
18. Director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, Dr. Mark Serreze states, “We could very well be in that quick slide downward in terms of passing a tipping point. It’s tipping now. We’re seeing it happen now,” quoted in R. Black, “Arctic Ice ‘is at tipping point’,” BBC News, August 28, 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7585645.stm . The National Snow and Ice Data Center in the US also notes, “Arctic sea ice generally reaches its annual minimum extent in mid-September. This August [2010], [the] ice extent was the second lowest in the satellite record, after 2007. On September 3 [2010], [the] ice extent dropped below the seasonal minimum for 2009 to become the third lowest in the satellite record. The Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route are largely free of ice, allowing the potential for a circumnavigation of the Arctic Ocean.” Please see “Updated minimum Arctic sea ice extent,” September 27, 2010, http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2010/092710.html.
19. Jonathan L. Bamber, “Reassessment of the Potential Sea-Level Rise from a Collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.” Science, May 15, 2009, 324: 901-903 [DOI: 10.1126/ science.1169335] (in Research Articles). Abstract online at http://www.sciencemag.org/content/324/5929/901.short.
20. From the U.S. Geological Survey, “The Water Cycle: Water Storage in Ice and Snow.” Available online at http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycleice.html.
21. The International Organization for Migration, “Migration, Climate Change, and Environmental Degradation: A Complex Nexus.” Available online at http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/complex-nexus.
22. At the 3rd Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC held in Kyoto, Japan, H.E. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (Maldives) called on world leaders to address climate change as follows: “The Maldives is one of the small states. We are not in a position to change the course of events in the world. But what you do or do not do here will greatly influence the fate of my people. It can also change the course of world history.”
23. “Methane Bubbling From Arctic Lakes, Now And At End Of Last Ice Age,” Science Daily, October 26, 2007, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071025174618.htm. Also see “Scientists Find Increased Methane Levels in Arctic Ocean,” Science Daily, December 18, 2008, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081217203407.htm. In a number of recent reports scientists have documented the intense methane release from seabed areas near East Siberia, Russia, and Spitsbergen. See, for example, Judith Burns, “Methane Seeps from Arctic Sea-bed,” BBC News, August 19, 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8205864.stm. Also Steve Connor, “Exclusive: The Methane Time Bomb,” The Independent, September 23, 2009, http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/exclusive-themethane-timebomb-938932.html.
24. See John Atcheson, “Ticking Time Bomb,” Baltimore Sun, December 15, 2004, from http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1215-24.htm.
25. Dr. Gregory Ryskin of Northwestern University discussed his research indicating that 250-million years ago methane explosions from the ocean caused extinctions of 90% of marine species and 75% of terrestrial species, adding, “If it happened once, it could happen again.” http://pangea.stanford.edu/research/Oceans/GES205/methaneGeology.pdf.
26. For example, in an interview with Supreme Master Television, Indian Glaciologist Dr. Jagdish Bahadur discussed the relationship between glacial retreat and disasters such as floods and droughts as follows: “Himalayan glaciers are in general on retreat as anywhere else on the planet due to global warming. Continued melting at the current rate will result in massive flooding. Immediately when glaciers recede they release more water, followed by severe drought.” Supreme Master TV, “The Himalayan Glaciers Are Disappearing,” March 25, 2009. http://suprememastertv.com/bbs/board.php?bo_table=sos_video&wr_id=83&goto_url.
27. United States Environmental Protection Agency, “Climate Change-Health and Environmental Effect: Extreme Events,” http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/effects/extreme.html.
28. Anne Minard, “No More Glaciers in Glacier National Park by 2020?” National Geographic News, March 2, 2009, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/03/090302-glaciers-melting.html.
29. University of Colorado at Boulder press release, “Western Water Supplies Threatened by Climate Change: Warming climate could deplete reservoir storage in the Colorado River Basin by mid-century,” July 2009. http://geology.com/pressrelease/colorado-river-water-supply/.
30. “Loss of Andes Glaciers Threatens Water Supply,” Tehran Times, November 28, 2007. http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=158041.
31. Pew Oceans Commission, America’s Living Oceans: Charting a Course for Sea Change: a Report to the Nation, 2003. Available online at http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_work_report_detail.aspx?id=30009.
32. Robert J. Diaz and Rutger Rosenberg, “Spreading Dead Zones and Consequences for Marine Ecosystems,” Science, Vol. 321, No. 5891 (2008): 926-929. http://www.precaution.org/lib/marine_dead_zones_growing.080815.pdf.
33. “Big Fish Stocks Fall 90 Percent Since 1950, Study Says,” National Geographic News May 15, 2003, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0515_030515_fishdecline.html.
34. “Oceans’ Fish Could Disappear by 2050,” Discovery News, May 17, 2010. http://news.discovery.com/earth/oceans-fish-fishing-industry.html.
35. Robert McClure, “Dead Orca is a ‘Red Alert’,” Seattle Post Intelligencer, May 7, 2002. http://www.seattlepi.com/local/69418_whale07.shtml.
36. For example the Black Saturday bushfires that burned across the Australian state of Victoria on Saturday, February 7, 2009 produced the country’s highest ever loss of life from a bushfire. 173 people died as a result of the fires and 414 were injured. http://www.abc.net.au/innovation/blacksaturday/#/stories/mosaic.
37. The World Bank, Republic of Peru Environmental Sustainability: A Key to Poverty Reduction in Peru June 01, 2007. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPERUINSPANISH/Resources/
PERU_CEA_Full_Report_eng.pdf. Also see the World Bank, “Climate Change Aspects in Agriculture: Peru Country Note”, January 2009, p. 3. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTLAC/Resources/257803-1235077152356/Country_Note_Peru.pdf.
38. “Children Die in Harsh Peru Winter,” BBC News, July 12, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8146995.stm.
39. US Environmental Protection Agency, “Climate Change—Health and Environmental Effects: Extreme Events.” http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/effects/extreme.html.
40. “Thirty-Eight Percent of World’s Surface in Danger of Desertification,” Science Daily, February 10, 2010. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100209183133.htm.
41. “Drought causes water shortage for five-million people in China,” Earth Times, August 23, 2009. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/282501,drought-causeswatershortage-for-5-million-people-in-china.html.
42. “Australia Wildfire Death Toll Reaches 200,” CBC News, February 17, 2009. http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/02/17/australia-wildfires.html.
43. “What is Deforestation?” Lesson Plans by Lisa M. Algee, Environmental Education PhD student, the University of California at Santa Cruz. http://kids.mongabay.com/lesson_plans/lisa_algee/deforestation.html.
44. World Wildlife Foundation, “Deforestation,” http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/about_forests/deforestation.
45. Yacov Tsur et al., Pricing Irrigation Water: Principles and Cases from Developing Countries. Washington: Resource for the Future, 2004, 220.
46. “Argentina has lost nearly 70% of its forests in a century,” France 24, October 1, 2009. http://www.france24.com/en/20090926-argentina-lost-major-part-forests-century-soy-crops-environment.
47. Rhett A. Butler, “98% of Orangutan Habitat Gone in the next 15 Years,” Mongabay.com, June 11, 2007, http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0611-indonesia.html. Also see UNEP, The Last Stand of the Orangutan, available online at http://www.unep.org/grasp/docs/2007Jan-LastStand-of-Orangutan-report.pdf.
48. More will be discussed about black carbon. It is sufficient to note here that scientists from NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies and Columbia University Drew Shindell and Greg Faluvegi have found black carbon is the second or third greatest individual warming agent after methane and CO2, and is responsible for 50% of Arctic melting. See Drew Shindell and Greg Faluvegi, “Climate response to regional radiative forcing during the twentieth century,” Nature Geoscience 2 (April 2009), 294-300. Abstract online at http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v2/n4/abs/ngeo473.html. Similarly, Noel Keenlyside, climate researcher at the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences in Germany points out, “In the Arctic and Antarctic areas, black carbon deposition on snow and ice causes the surfaces to absorb more of the sun’s heat.” Noel Keenlyside, “Atmospheric science: Clean air policy and Arctic warming,” Nature Geoscience 2, (2009): 243-244. Abstract online at http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v2/n4/full/ngeo486.html.
49. Julia Whitty, “Animal Extinction: A Great Threat to Mankind,” The Independent, April 30, 2007. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/animal-extinction--the-greatest-threat-to-mankind-397939.html.
50. IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change), Fourth Assessment Report: Changes in Atmospheric Constituents and in Radiative Forcing, 2007, 212. Available online at http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg1/ar4-wg1-chapter2.pdf.
51. For more details, please see the Global Humanitarian Forum study, “Climate Change The Human Impact Report: The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis.” Available at http://www.eird.org/publicaciones/humanimpactreport.pdf.
52. Kevin Watkins et al., Human Development Report 2006: Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis, United Nations Development Programme, 2006, 20, 23. http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2006.
53. FAO, “1.02 Billion People Hungry—One Sixth of Humanity Undernourished— More Than Ever Before,” FAO Media Center, June 19, 2009. http://www.fao.org/news/story/0/item/20568/icode/en.
54. Megan Rowling, “Climate Change Causes 315,000 Deaths a Year-Report,” Reuters, May 29, 2009, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLS1002309.
55. Ibid.
56. “Peru Health Ministry Warns of possible dengue fever in Lima, insists on prevention,” Andean Air Mail and Peruvian Times, March 2, 2009, http://www.peruviantimes.com/peru-health-ministry-warns-of-possible-dengue-fever-inlima-insists-onprevention/ 021936.
57. It is widely accepted that global warming-induced increases in floods and droughts are fuelling the spread of epidemics in areas unprepared for the diseases. For example, a Washington Post report states, “Malaria is climbing the mountains to reach populations in higher elevations in Africa and Latin America. Cholera is growing in warmer seas. Dengue fever and Lyme disease are moving north. West Nile virus, never seen on this continent until seven years ago, has infected more than 21,000 people in the United States and Canada and killed more than 800. The World Health Organization has identified more than 30 new or resurgent diseases in the last three decades, the sort of explosion some experts say has not happened since the Industrial Revolution brought masses of people together in cities.” See Struck, Doug, “Climate Change Drives Disease to New Territory,” The Washington Post, May 5, 2006, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/04/AR2006050401931.html. Also see Alyshah Hasham, “Climate change spreads infectious diseases worldwide,” International News Services, http:// www.internationalnewsservices.com/articles/1-latest-news/17833-climate-changespreads-infectious-diseases-worldwide.
58. From “Scientists: ‘Arctic is Screaming’: Global Warming May Have Passed Tipping Point,” Fox News, December 12, 2007. Available online at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316501,00.html.
59. From FAO, “Livestock a major threat to environment: Remedies urgently needed.” FAO Newsroom, November 29, 2006. Available online at http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html.
60. From Peter Fricker, “Care about the environment? Eat less meat,” Global and Mail, Jan. 23, 2008. Available online at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/article661961.ece.
61. Jerry Mayer and John P. Holms eds, Bite-size Einstein: Quotations on Just About Everything from the Greatest Mind of the Twentieth Century. St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1996, p. 10.
Chapter 3
62. IPCC, Fourth Assessment Report, 212.
63. Kirk Smith, “Methane Controls Before Risky Geo-engineering, Please,” New Scientist 2714 (June 25, 2009). http://www.goodplanet.info/eng/Contenu/Pointsde-vues/Methane-controls-before-risky-geoengineering-please/(theme)/268.
64. Goodland and Anhang, “Livestock and Climate Change.”
65. William Collins, Professor of Earth and Planetary Science, the University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A. has already pointed out the abrupt changes in climate that methane can induce: “Methane gas molecules locked inside cages of water ice are in such a concentrated form that when the ice melts they expand to 164 times their frozen volume and are 72 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a GHG.” See Peter Preuss, “Impacts: On the Threshold of Abrupt Climate Change.” Berkeley Lab News Letter, September 17, 2008, http://newscenter.lbl.gov/featurestories/2008/09/17/impactson-the-threshold-of-abrupt-climate-changes/.
66. For more details on methane release from the sea, see Cornelia Dean, “Study Says Undersea Release of Methane Is Under Way,” The New York Times, March 04, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/05/science/earth/05methane.html. Also Michael 137 Notes Fitzpatric, “Methane release ‘looks stronger’,” BBC News, Jan.6, 2010, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8437703.stm. For methane release from lakes, see Katey M. Walter et al., “Methane production and bubble emissions from arctic lakes: Isotopic implications for source pathways and ages,” Journal of Geophysical Research 113, http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/journals/pnw_2008_Walter001.pdf. Also see Katey M. Walter et al., “Methane bubbling from Siberian thaw lakes as a positive feedback to climate warming,” Nature (2006) 443. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v443/n7107/abs/nature05040.html.
67. Katey Walter, “Siberian Lakes Burp 'Time-Bomb' Greenhouse Gas,” Science Daily, September 8, 2006. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060908094051.htm.
68. Peter Ward, “Impact From the Deep,” Scientific American, September 18, 2006, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=impact-from-the-deep&sc=I100322 , and Supreme Master TV, “Learning from the Past: Mass Extinctions and Global Warming with Dr. Peter Ward,” Sept. 23, 2009, http://suprememastertv.com/pe/?wr_id=87&page=4&page=4#v. Also L.R. Kump, A. Pavlov and M. A. Arthur, “Massive release of hydrogen sulfide to the surface ocean and atmosphere during intervals of oceanic anoxia,” Geology, v. 33 (2005), 397-400.
69. Scientists have found that “the livestock industry [including meat, eggs and dairy] are responsible for 65% of worldwide, human-caused nitrous oxide emissions.” See Steinfeld et al., Livestock’s Long Shadow, 114.
70. A number of studies have addressed this issue, particularly those by Professor Heitor Evangelista and colleagues of Janeiro State University in Brazil, Professor Mark Jackson of the University of California at Berkeley, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. See news reports by Lauren Morello, “Cutting Soot Emissions May Slow Climate Change in the Arctic,” Scientific American, August 2, 2010, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=cutting-soot-emissions-may-slow-climatechange-in-the-arctic as well as by Randy Boswell, “Soot Is Second Leading Cause of Climate Change: Study,” Ottawa Citizen, August 1, 2010, http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/Soot+second+leading+cause+
climate+change+study/3349011/story.html?cid=megadrop_story#ixzz0vekfEf8s.
71. See “An Interview with Dr. Kirk Smith, Professor of Global Environmental Health at UC Berkeley,” Supreme Master TV, July 1, 2008, SupremeMasterTV.com/bbs/ tb.php/sos_video/21.
72. Monica Bruckner, “The Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone,” http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/topics/deadzone.
73. SIWI and IWMI, “Saving Water from Field to Fork.” Also see Natural Resources Defense Council, “Facts about Pollution from Livestock Farms,” http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/ffarms.asp.
74. Robert J. Diaz and Rutger Rosenberg, “Spreading Dead Zones and Consequences for Marine Ecosystems.”
75. Dr. Andrew Bakun and his colleague, Dr. Scarla Weeks of the University of Cape Town in South Africa, have found that overfishing of sardines off the southwest coast of Africa may have been a factor in eruptions of two toxic gases—hydrogen sulfide, and methane— from the Atlantic Ocean floor. Hydrogen sulfide causes 138 From Crisis to Peace: The Organic Vegan Way Is The Answer a horrible, rotten-egg smell that had long burdened (and perplexed) residents of local communities in Namibia, while also poisoning fish and causing oxygen poor dead zones in the water. See Andrew Bakun and Scarla J. Weeks, “Greenhouse gas buildup, sardines, submarine eruptions and the possibility of abrupt degradation of intense marine upwelling ecosystems” Ecology Letters (2004) vol.7, issue 11, 1015– 1023. http://woldlab.caltech.edu/~tristan/silence/bakun_2004_eco_letters.pdf.
76. From Thomas Lane, “UN Official Warns on Fisheries Losses.” BBC News, May 21, 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10128900.
77. David Pimentel, ecologist and Professor Emeritus at Cornell University, USA warns, “With 87% of total water used for livestock production, the United States will soon become a water-stressed country.” Pimentel, “U.S. could feed 800-million people with grain that livestock eat, Cornell ecologist advises animal scientists,” Cornell Science News, August 7, 1997. http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/aug97/livestock.hrs.html.
78. See, for example, Anne Minard, “No More Glaciers in Glacier National Park by 2020?” National Geographic News, March 2, 2009, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/03/090302-glaciers-melting.html. For a scholarly report, see R. D. Moore et al., “Glacier change in western North America: influences on hydrology, geomorphic hazards and water quality,” Hydrological Processes 23 (2009), 42– 61. DOI: 10.1002/hyp.7162. http://www.glaciers.pdx.edu/fountain/MyPapers/MooreEtAl2009_GlacierChangeWaterRunoff.pdf.
79. A classic study on this topic is Marcia Kreith, Water Inputs in California Food Production, prepared for the Water Education Foundation, Sacramento, CA. 1991. http://www.sakia.org/cms/fileadmin/content/irrig/general/kreith_1991_
water_inputs_in_ca_food_production-excerpt.pdf.
80. Marlow Vesterby and Kenneth S. Krupa, Major Uses of Land in the United States, 1997 (SB973) September 2001, http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/sb973/sb973.pdf.
81. See The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), “Ten Years on: UN marks World Day to Combat Desertification,” June 17, 2004, http://www.unccd.int/publicinfo/pressrel/showpressrel.php?pr=press01_06_04.
82. Yacov Tsur et al., Pricing Irrigation Water: Principles and Cases from Developing Countries, 220.
83. Juliet Gellatley and Tony Hardle, The Silent Ark: A Chilling Expose of Meat. HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., 1996.
84. Harvey Blatt, America’s Food: What You don’t Know about What You Eat. Boston: MIT Press, 2008, 136.
86. According to IPCC scientists, deforestation or forest clearing contributes from 17.4% to up to one third of world atmospheric GHG emissions. See IPCC, Fourth Assessment Report, Synthetic Report, Section 2, p. 36 and Working Group Report, section 7, p. 527.
87. John Robbins, Diet for a New America, excerpted from http://whitt.ca/soapbox/vegetarian.html.
88. Julie Denslow and Christine Padoch, People of the Tropical Rainforest. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988, 169.
89. See Greenpeace UK, “The Congo Rainforest of Central Africa,” http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/forests/congo.
90. A study by the Rodale Institute, USA states, “Even though climate and soil type affect [CO2] sequestration capacities, these multiple research efforts verify that practical organic agriculture if practiced on the planet’s 3.5-billion tillable acres, could sequester nearly 40 % of current CO2 emissions.” See Timothy LaSalle and Paul Hepperly, “Regenerative Organic Farming: A Solution to Global Warming,” 2008. Available online at http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/files/Rodale_Research_Paper-07_30_08.pdf.
91. In an interview with Supreme Master Television, Professor of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago Dr. David Archer states, “It’s very clear that when you grow grain and then feed it to animals and then eat the animals, you lose 90% of the energy from the original grain, and so not only can you feed fewer people on the agriculture that you have but as they discovered, it also requires a lot more fossil fuel energy to make that happen.” See Supreme Master TV, “The Science and Solution to Climate Change,” http://suprememastertv.com/bbs/board.php?bo_table=sos_video&wr_id=16. Also, Earth Save International has summarized the high cost of meat production as follows: “12 pounds of grain: Makes eight loaves of bread or two plates of spaghetti. 55 square feet of rainforest: For every pound of rainforest beef, approximately 600 pounds of precious, living matter is destroyed, including 20 to 30 plant species, over 100 insect species and dozens of mammals and reptiles. 2,500 gallons of water: This could be used to grow more than 50 pounds of fruits and vegetables.” See Earth Save International, “The Hamburger Poster,” http://www.earthsave.org/support/hamburgerSMALL.pdf.
92. John Robbins, Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness and the Future of Life on Earth. Tiburon: H. J. Kramer, 1987, 367.
93. Here are some numbers and statistics: According to a study by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, 30% of the world’s mammal, bird and amphibian species are currently threatened with extinction due to human actions. See The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report, 2005, http://maweb.org/en/Reports.aspx. Over a million species will be lost in the coming 50 years. Moreover, among 45,000 species monitored by IUCN, 40% were threatened with extinction in 2008. See “IUCN Red List reveals world’s mammals in crisis,” IUCN News release, October 6, 2008. http://www.iucn.org/search.cfm?uNewsID=1695.
94. The US General Accounting Office long ago established that overall livestock produce 130 times more waste than humans. Pigs produce three times the excrement that humans do, and cows produce 21 times the amount of waste generated by humans. See Animal Agriculture Waste Management Practice, 1999, http://www.gao.gov/archive/1999/rc99205.pdf.
95. F. Ackerman and E. A. Stanton, Climate Change—the Costs of Inaction: Report to Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2006. http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/econ_costs_cc.pdf. Also see F. Ackerman, Climate Change: The Costs of Inaction: Testimony presented to: United States Congress House Committee on Energy and Commerce, 2009. http://www.e3network.org/opeds/Ackerman_testimony_April22.pdf.
96. From B. Barrett and A. Lim, “Japan to suffer huge climate costs.” OurWorld 2.0 (United Nations University), June 30, 2009. http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/japanexamines-costs-of-climate-change/.
97. The estimate of $40 trillion climate change cost by 2050 is based on the model provided by the Stern Review. For the vegan diet benefits based on this estimation, please see Elke Stehfest et al., “Climate Benefits of Changing Diet,” The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, 2009. Available online at http://www.pbl.nl/en/publications/2009/Climate-benefits-of-changing-diet.html.
98. See “Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics 2010 Update: A Report From the American Heart Association,” Circulation, 2010; 121; e46-e215 p. e206. http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/121/7/e46.
99. See the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, “Diabetes: Success and Opportunities for Population-Based Prevention and Control: At a Glance 2010” http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/aag/ddt.htm. Also, F. G. Jansman et al., “Cost considerations in the treatment of colorectal cancer”, Pharmacoeconomics. No. 25 (2007), 537-562. Abstract online at http://ideas.repec.org/a/wkh/phecon/v25y2007i7p537-562.html.
100. These passages are taken from Supreme Master Ching Hai’s interview with journalist Ben Murnane on July 7, 2009. The interview was published in the July 12, 2009 issue of the Irish Sunday Independent, Ireland, under the title, “An Urgent Call to Save Our Planet.” See the interview in video: http://www.suprememastertv.com/wow/?wr_id=365&page=9&page=9#v.
101. Foodwatch, Organic: A Climate Saviour? The Foodwatch report on the greenhouse effect of conventional and organic farming in Germany. May 2009. http://foodwatch.de/foodwatch/content/e6380/e24459/e24474/foodwatch_
report_on_the_greenhouse_effect_of_farming_05_2009_ger.pdf.
102. Ibid.
103. See Gowri Koneswaran and Danielle Nierenberg, “Global Farm Animal Production and Global Warming: Impacting and Mitigating Climate Change” (discussion section), Environmental Health Perspectives, 116(5) (May 2008): 578-582, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2367646.
104. William Lambers, “25,000 die of hunger each day,” History News Network (George Mason University), October 7, 2007, http://hnn.us/articles/27396.html.
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105. At a video conference held in January 2008 in Los Angeles, USA, Supreme Master Ching Hai responded to a question about what message she would give to world leaders. This paragraph is part of her answer.
106. In September 2010, the number of countries that had enacted smoking bans reached 94.
107. Worldwatch Institute, “Matters of Scale -The Price of Beef,” World Watch Magazine, Jul/Aug 1994. Available online at http://www.worldwatch.org/node/791.
108. In recent years, farm subsidies have remained high in the United States even in years of near-record profits. The US government pays about $20-25 billion direct 141 Notes subsidies to farmers annually. According to the USDA 2006 Fiscal Year Budget, animal-feedgrain subsidies alone comprised more than 35% of this total. Between 2003 and 2004, the US spent $3.6 billion on animal-feed corn and soy each year. This made the feed grain available below cost. See the Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy, Trade and Global Governance Program, “Below-Cost Feed Crops: An Indirect Subsidy for Industrial Animal Factories,” June 2006, http://www.worc.org/userfiles/IATP%20cheap%20grain.pdf.
109. Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry, by Gail A. Eisnitz (Human Farming Association, 2006) shows that one hamburger can contain up to 100 different cows, and that one infected cow can contaminate up to 16 tons of beef.
110. AlterNet.org Editors, “The Seven Deadly Myths of Industrial Agriculture: Myth Three,” September 5, 2002, http://www.alternet.org/story/13904.
111. By 2008, eleven organic gardens were already operating in the township; for example, see Helen Kilbey, “South Africa: Cape Town Goes Organic,” AllAfrica.com, January 14, 2008, http://www.regoverningmarkets.org/en/news/southern_africa/south_
africa_cape_town_goes_organic.html. Also see “From the Ground Up: Organic Gardening Fuels a Food Revolution,” AllAfrica.com, January 9, 2008, http://allafrica.com/specials/organic_food_sa.
112. A new fertilizer imported from Tanzania has helped Kenyan farmers reduce soil acidity and increase per-hectare yields of cereal grains such as maize by 30 per cent. In Uganda, agricultural productivity is expected to increase following a recent pledge by Korea to construct an organic fertilizer factory there. See Ministry of Agriculture, Republic of Kenya, “Farmers to Reap Maximum Benefits from Organic Fertilizer,” http://www.kilimo.go.ke/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=149%3Anews&id=266%3Afarmers-to-reap-maximum-benefits-fromorganicfertilizer&Itemid=46.
113. “Organic food has long been considered a niche market and a luxury for wealthy consumers. Researchers in Denmark found, however, that there would not be any serious negative effect on food security for sub-Saharan Africa if 50% of agricultural land in the food exporting regions of Europe and North America were converted to organic by 2020.” See “Researchers: Organic push won’t hurt world food supply,” USA Today, May 5, 2007, ftp://ftp.fao.org/paia/organicag/OFS/press4.pdf.
114. According to the IFOAM, the current global market for organic foods and drinks is estimated to be around US$50 billion, and increased by 10-20 per cent annually from 2000 to 2007. This sub-sector provides a unique export opportunity for many developing countries because 97 percent of its revenues are generated in the OECD countries, while 80 percent of its producers are found in the developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. See UNEP, “Organic Agriculture in Uganda,” http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/SuccessStories/Organic
AgricultureinUganda/tabid/4655/language/en-US/Default.aspx. Also see UNEP, “Environment-Led Green Revolution Key to Future Food Security in Africa,” Press Release, May 14, 2009, http://www.grida.no/news/press/3680.aspx.
115. Ivette Perfecto et al., “Organic Agriculture and the Global Food Supply,” Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 22 (2007): 86-108. http://agr.wa.gov/Foodanimal/Organic/Certificate/2008/NewsRelease/BadgleyResearchPaper.pdf.
116. “Organic farms ‘best for wildlife’,” BBC News, August 3, 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4740609.stm.
117. See Al Meyerhoff, “The loss of billions of bees raises questions about our pesticide controls,” Los Angeles Times, July 30, 2008, http://beediary.wordpress.com/tag/ccd.
118. Timothy LaSalle, “Organic farming could stop global climate change,” The Tree Hugger, October 10, 2010. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/10/organicfarming-could-stop-global-climate-change.php.
119. C. Benbrook, “Simplifying the Pesticide Risk Equation: The Organic Option,” State of Science Review of the Organic Center, March 8, 2008. http://www.organic-center.org/reportfiles/Organic_Option_Final_Ex_Summary.pdf.
120. FAO, Organic Agriculture and Food Security (2007). ftp://ftp.fao.org/paia/organicag/ofs/OFS-2007-5.pdf.
121. See note 14. This refers to research by the Netherland Environmental Assessment Agency to provide recommendations for the Netherlands government and international policy making.
122. See study by the UN agency The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), “The Adoption of Organic Agriculture Among Small Farmers in Latin America and the Caribbean,” April 2003, Report No. 1337. http://www.ifad.org/evaluation/public_html/eksyst/doc/thematic/pl/organic.htm.
123. See note 14, 119.
124. See John Robbins, “The Pig Farmer,” April 2010, available online at http://www.johnrobbins.info/blog/the-pig-farmer. Also see John Robbins, The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World.
125. See the European Parliament, “2050, The Future begins today—Recommendations for the EU`s future integrated policy on climate change,” April 2, 2009. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/file.jsp?id=5626312.
126. See Jens Holms, “The EU Parliament calls meat a Climate Threat,” February 4, 2009. http://jensholm.se/2009/02/04/the-eu-parliament-calls-meat-a-climate-threat.
127. See Chris Mason, “Belgian city plans `veggie` days,” BBC News, May 12, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8046970.stm.
128. See Candra Malik, “Prince Charles Gives $2.8b to Preserve Rain Forests,” July 30, 2009. http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/prince-charles-gives-28b-topreserve-rain-forests/321249.
129. See “Who’s Up for a Low Carb Diet?” Sustainable Development Commission (Northern Ireland), June 18, 2009. http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/news.php/246/ireland/whos-up-for-a-low-carb-diet.
130. Ibid.
131. This refers to the booklet produced by Countryside Management Branch DARD entitled Code of Good Agricultural Practice, August 2008, which provides good management practices to avoid polluting water, air and soil. http://www.dardni.gov.uk/code_of_good_agricultural_practice_cogap_august_2008.pdf.
132. See Hawaii State Legislature, “Requesting the Board of Education to Develop a Policy to Include Vegetarian and Vegan Meal Options in All School Menu Plans,” Report HCR59 HD1, offered on November 2, 2009. http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2009/Bills/HCR59_HD1_.HTM.
133. See City of Cincinnati, Climate Protection Action Plan-the Green Cincinnati Plan, July 19, 2008, 35, 209-211. Available online at http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/cmgr/downloads/cmgr_pdf18280.pdf.
134. Jennifer Duck, “Bringing Home the Bacon, Vegan Style,” ABC News, May 4, 2007, http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3139687&page=1. Also see “Dennis Kucinich Celebrates Vegan Earth Day With A Special VEGGIE Message,” http://vegdaily.com/2009/07/dennis-kucinich-celebrates-vegan-earth-day-with-aspecial-veggie-message/.
135 Jason Tomassini, “Senator goes vegetarian for week,” Gazette.Net, April 29, 2009, http://www.gazette.net/stories/04292009/takonew183650_32520.shtml. Also see Kailey Harless, “Raskin’s Revolution,” VegNews.com, May 4, 2007, www.vegnews.com/web/articles/page.do?pageId=688&catId=1.
136. Meatless Monday, “Baltimore Schools Go Meatless,” http://www.meatlessmonday.com/baltimore-schools.
137. The San Francisco Vegetarian Society, “San Francisco is First U.S. City to Declare Mondays as ‘Veg Day,’” April 7, 2010, http://www.vegsource.com/news/2010/04/san-francisco-is-first-us-city-to-declare-mondays-as-veg-day.html.
138. See Taiwan Environmental Information Center, “Million people sign up to resist Global Warming by adopting vegetarian diet” (in Chinese), http://e-info.org.tw/node/33565.
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139. In the National Survey on Giving, Volunteering and Participating (NSGVP), Statistics Canada interviewed 2,389 Canadians aged 15 to 24. See Susan Pedwell, “I want to make a difference,” Canadian Living, http://www.canadianliving.com/life/community/i_want_to_make_a_difference.php.
140. According to World Watch research, the livestock industry contributes 51% of the greenhouse gases produced on Earth. See note 3.
141. See notes 90, p.1 142. See the Iowa Pork Producers Association, “USDA to buy more pork,” November 11, 2009, http://www.iowapork.org/Newsroom/NewsForProducers/USDAporkbuy/tabid/1504/Default.aspx. Also see the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC)’s Capital Pork Report (November 2009), http://nppc.org/uploadedfiles/cprNOV-6.pdf.
143. Ibid.
144. More suggestions for green activities are available on the Supreme Master Television website.
145. See, for example, the Supreme Master TV documentaries, “No Water Required! Dry Farming in Au Lac (Vietnam),” free online at http://www.suprememastertv.com/bbs/tb.php/pe/79, “Growing Fruits and Vegetables in Sand-One Story From Au Lac (Vietnam),” SupremeMasterTV.com/bbs/tb.php/pe/72.
146. The link is SupremeMasterTV.com/sos-flyer.
147. Founded on March 7, 2008, Loving Hut vegan restaurants numbered 221 worldwide by the end of January, 2011.
