Review on: Livestock Production and Global Climate Change

Abstract

Livestock productions are changing rapidly in response to a variety of drivers as human population is expected to increase from around 6.5 billion today to 9.2 billion by 2050. This paper reviews on livestock production and global climate change. The effect of climate on animal production is categorized in to four ways: (a) the impact of changes in livestock feed availability and price; (b) impacts on livestock pastures and forage crop production and quality; (c) changes in the distribution of livestock diseases and pests; and (d) the direct effects of weather and extreme events on animal health, growth and reproduction. Livestock and livestock-related activities such as deforestation and increasingly fuel-intensive farming practices are responsible for over 18% of human-made greenhouse gas emissions, including: 9% of global carbon dioxide emissions, 35-40% of global methane emissions (chiefly due to enteric fermentation and manure), 64% of global nitrous oxide emissions (chiefly due to fertilizer use).

Keywords: impact, livestock production, climate change