Peningkatan peternakan merupakan salah satu penyebab utama penggundulan hutan.4(UN FAO, 2006)
Sejak 1990-an sekitar 90% penggundulan hutan Amazon dikarenakan pembersihan lahan untuk tempat merumput sapi atau menanam makanan untuk peternakan.5
Di Queensland, Australia, 91% dari pembersihan seluruh pohon dalami periode 20 tahun lebih telah dilakukan untuk tempat merumput peternakan.6(recent report on a 20-year study commissioned by the Queensland government by Mr. Gerald Bisshop, retired principal scientist of the Queensland Department of Environment and Resources Management)
PENGGURUNAN
Penggurunan disebabkan oleh penggembalaan ternak yang berlebihan dan perluasan dari area menanam sumber makanan bagi peternakan.(TPN3 Rangeland Management in Arid Areas including the fixation of sand dunes, UNCCD, 2003)Lebih dari 50% erosi tanah di Amerika Serikat disebabkan oleh peternakan, yang menyebabkan penggurunan.7
Lebih dari 50% erosi tanah di Amerika Serikat disebabkan oleh peternakan, yang menyebabkan penggurunan.8
Sekitar 75 juta ton humus tererosi setiap tahunnya dikarenakan kesalahan manajemen pertanian, perubahan iklim, dan penggembalaan ternak. Hanya di Amerika Serikat saja, 54% humus habis karena penggembalaan yang berlebihan, dengan lebih dari 100 ton humus hilang per hektar setiap tahunnya..9 (A study presented by Professor John Crawford at the recent Carbon Farming Conference held in New South Wales, Australia)
Pada 2010, Irak, China, Chad, Australia dan Mongolia, di antara negara lainnya, dilaporkan mengalami kekeringan yang parah, dengan penggembalaan peternakan membuat kondisi semakin parah.
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Drought, wildfires put Brazil under environmental emergency (2010, September 8). MYsinchew.com. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.mysinchew.com/node/44603?tid=37
Matson, J. (2010, April 21). A warming world could trigger earthquakes, landslides and volcanoes. An online acticle on Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A (Physical, Mathematical and Engineering Sciences research. Scientific American [Electronic version]. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=no-link-now-between-eyjafjallajando-2010-04-21
Global warming could turn forests from sink to source of carbon emissions. (2009, April 16). An online acticle on International Union of Forest Research Organizations [IUFRO] report. mongabay.com. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0416-forests.html
Finnish Environment Institute (2010). Soil contributes to climate warming more than expected - Finnish research shows a flaw in climate models. University of Helsinki. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.ymparisto.fi/default.asp?contentid=351875&lan=en
Corwin, J.A. (2006, October 12). Russia: Siberia’s Once-Frozen Tundra Is Melting. An online acticle on Dr. Katie Walter finding. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1071976.html
Fitzpatrick, M. (2010, January 6). Methane release ‘looks stronger’. An acticle on Professor Igor Semiletov finding, head of the International Siberian Shelf Study [ISSS], University of Alaska at Fairbanks, USA. BBC. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8437703.stm
Ljunggren, D. (2009, July 29). Arctic tundra hotter, boosts global warming: expert. An acticle on Professor Greg Henry research, University of British Columbia. Reuters. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE56S53E20090729
Return to previous Arctic conditions is unlikely (2010). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s [NOAA] Arctic Report Card 2010 Update. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/reportcard/
Hansen, K. (2010, January 27). Arctic ‘Melt Season’ Is Growing Longer, New Research Demonstrates. NASA. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from Phsyorg.com http://www.physorg.com/news183836066.html
Water flowing through ice sheets accelerates warming, could speed up ice flow (2010, November 3). University of Colorado, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences [CIRES]. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-11-ice-sheets.html
Greenland glacier calves island four times the size of Manhattan (2010, August 6). University of Delaware. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.physorg.com/news200326075.html
Lamont-Doherty (2010, June 20). New research sheds light on Antarctica’s melting Pine Island Glacier. British Antarctic Survey. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.physorg.com/news196255601.html
Stracansky P., (2010, November 13). Fast Melting Glaciers Threaten Biodiversity. Inter Press Service [IPS] / International Federation of Environmental Journalists [IFEJ] / UNEP/ CBD. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53552
Hance, J. (2009, November 2). Goodbye, snows of Kilimanjaro. An article on Proceedings of the National Academy of Science [PNAS] report. mongabay.com. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://news.mongabay.com/2009/1102-hance_kilimanjaro.html