Acid rain Ammonia from animal excrement and fertilisers contributes to acid rain which kills forests and aquatic life in the lakes of northern Europe and north America. Deforestation Millions of hectares of irreplaceable life-sustaining rain forest are destroyed every year, often to create grazing pasture for livestock. Wildlife habitats disappear, many species are endangered, some to face certain extinction. Indigenous human populations are also affected, their homes and natural environments stolen, their cultures irreparably damaged. Every day 50 species of tropical fauna or flora become extinct, partly caused by the destruction of forests to make way for livestock farming.
Rain forests are vital to life on Earth.
Where clearance has occurred, rain quickly washes away nutrients in the soil, rendering the land largely infertile. Devastated wastelands are created when the beef producers have taken all they can. Cattle slurry is 200 times more polluting than human sewage. 200 million tonnes of animal waste is produced each year. There have been many documented examples of slurry leakage into local streams and rivers, killing aquatic life.