In our society today, the repercussions of climate change are becoming more and more apparent, however, until its too late, we will never really know just how many aspects of our lives will be affected. Studies are helping scientists get a better picture of some of the effects we could be facing if this global threat is not stopped.
A recent study conducted by Neville Gregory, an animal physiologist of London’s Royal Veterinary College, proved that climate change is something that affects us in so many ways that we wouldn’t even think of.
In Gregory’s article, published in science direct, Gregory explains how climate change could affect our diet, specifically the meat we eat. Gregory explains that as the climate changes such that animals are being exposed to greater amounts of heat, the quality of the meat being produced by these animals will lessen.
This decline in quality is due to implications brought on by increased temperatures such as an increase in mortality rate and other organ and tissue related complications due to heat stress. These complications carry on after slaughter, leading to compromise of the meat produced by these animals, not only in its quality, but in its risk of contamination by E. coli and salmonella.
While this isn’t the most hard-hitting affect climate change would have on our world, small things like this tend to build up. There are greater and more pressing risks associated with climate change, but this shows how it could change our way of life in more ways than we would think.
References
Gregory, N. G. How climatic changes could affect meat quality. Food Research International (2009), Food Res. Int. doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2009.05.018 (2009)
Armstrong, Anna. (2009) Meat-eater’s Malady. Nature Reports. www.nature.com 12 october 2009. http://www.nature.com/climate/2009/0910/full/climate.2009.101.html
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I never saw the connection between climate change and the quality of the meat we eat. I like how you said that even though this isn't one of the major issues, small issues do add up. This could, eventually, be a major problem. It's important that we see other impacts of climate change, not just the major issues at this moment because these smaller issues may become the major issues in the future.
ReplyDeleteOf course the problem of meat quality isn't as important as other well-known issues connected to climate change. However, it isn't a small problem either, especially when one considers how large an impact it will have on the food industry. Generally, people think of the "popular" issues of climate change: global warming, extreme weather, rising sea levels, the loss of biodiversity, etc. But once informed of a hidden issue such as lower meat quality, it makes one wonder as to how many other problems will arise from climate change, unaddressed and unknown.
ReplyDeleteIt is fascinating how rising global temperatures can have such vast and striking effects on our world. As you said this is not a very dramatic affect of climate change but it’s the small things that collectively can cost us dearly, all the more reason to quickly act on global warming.
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