title: Global farm animal production and global warming: impacting and mitigating climate change.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The farm animal sector is the single largest anthropogenic user of land, contributing to many environmental problems, including global warming and climate change.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to synthesize and expand upon existing data on the contribution of farm animal production to climate change.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed the scientific literature on farm animal production and documented greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as various mitigation strategies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An analysis of meat, egg, and milk production encompasses not only the direct rearing and slaughtering of animals, but also grain and fertilizer production for animal feed, waste storage and disposal, water use, and energy expenditures on farms and in transporting feed and finished animal products, among other key impacts of the production process as a whole.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Immediate and far-reaching changes in current animal agriculture practices and consumption patterns are both critical and timely if GHGs from the farm animal sector are to be mitigated.
authors.affiliation: Humane Society of the United States, Farm Animal Welfare, Washington, DC 20037, USA. gkoneswaran@humanesociety.org
authors.forename: Gowri
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Koneswaran
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nierenberg
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D000821:Animal Feed / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D005308:Fertilizers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017752:Greenhouse Effect; D008697:Methane; D009584:Nitrogen
chemical_list: D005308:Fertilizers; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D009584:Nitrogen; D008697:Methane