Without major corrective measures, livestock's environmental impact "will worsen dramatically"...

A recent FAO study (details here) found that livestock production is one of the major causes the world's most pressing environmental problems, including global warming, land degradation, air and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity.

"The future of the livestock-environment interface," the study said, "will be shaped by how we resolve the balance of two competing demands: for animal food products on the one side and for environmental services on the other." In a report to the Committee on Agriculture (COAG), FAO outlines the major corrective measures urgently needed to address livestock's environmental impact which, it warns, "will otherwise worsen dramatically".