Climate, particularly global temperature has been identified as a Planetary Boundary which must not be crossed if humanity is to remain within a safe and liveable space
Recent evidence suggests we are well over the boundary. A major question is how long we can remain over this boundary before large,irreversible changes become unavoidable.
Our position on the boundary is measured by global temperatures which are increasing by 0.18 degrees C per decade
It is clear from ice core data over the last 800 thousand years that the average global temperature closely follows the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, measured as parts per million (ppm), which can also be used as a measure of how far over the boundary we have moved.
The data shows that during this period CO2 concentrations remained within the range of 170 to 300 ppm throughout many “ice age” cycles and has remained close to 280 ppm during the recent ten thousand years when human civilisations have developed.
So the current concentration of 425 ppm, March 2024 [1] is 50% over recent values, and far outside anything experienced for the last 16 million years ago. At that time the Earth was a very different place [2].
If the rise in CO2 and other Greenhouse Gases is not reversed then global average temperatures are expected to continue to rise, and life as we know it will not be possible.
Reversing the rise of CO2 ppm in the atmosphere requires concerted action by governments and individuals.
This is where a vegan diet can have a significant effect. Researchers at the University of Oxford found that cutting meat and dairy products from the diet could reduce an individual’s carbon footprint from food by up to 73 per cent [3], [4].
The Carbon footprint of beef can be over 25 times higher than the equivalent intake of protein from pulses, beans and tofu.
The conclusion is that for anyone who takes the issue of global heating seriously, adopting a vegan diet and lifestyle is a great start, and needs to be taken up globally if there is a realistic chance of keeping within this planetary boundary.
[1] https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/monthly.html
[2] https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-the-world-passed-a-carbon-threshold-400ppm-and-why-it-matters
[3] https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987
[4] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/veganism-environmental-impact-planet-reduced-plant-based-diet-humans-study-a8378631.html%3famp
