Technology in this case exerted a downward pressure on environmental impact, at least in terms of land used. Only population and consumption exerted upward pressure. Technology gets a score of -100 per cent, since it was the only one of the three factors pushing towards lower use of farmland. Technology again scores -100 per cent of the downward factors. Increase in livestock numbers is a factor in several types of environmental damage.
Goats eat tree seedlings.
Cows compact soil and vent methane. The number of livestock, however, rose more slowly than meat and milk production, by only 1.3 per cent a year. So the number of livestock required for each unit of meat and milk dropped by 2 per cent a year, due to technology changes such as better veterinary treatment, better breeds of animal and so on. Once again, technology was responsible for a net downward pressure on livestock numbers and so scores -100 per cent. Population accounted for 69 per cent of the upward pressure on numbers, and consumption for the remaining 31 per cent.