11,000 Scientists Declare Climate Emergency, Urge Public to Slash Meat Consumption

This week, the Alliance of World Scientists published a report in scientific journal BioScience declaring a climate emergency and calling for a global reduction in the consumption of meat and dairy products. “Scientists have a moral obligation to clearly warn humanity of any catastrophic threat and to ‘tell it like it is,’” the report states. “On the basis of this obligation and the graphical indicators presented below, we declare, with more than 11,000 scientist signatories from around the world, clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency.” The scientists—who hail from various universities from 153 countries—examined 40 years of publicly available data to define six categories in which immediate action must be taken to slow climate change. “Eating mostly plant-based foods while reducing the global consumption of animal products, especially ruminant livestock, can improve human health and significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions,” the food category of the report states. “Moreover, this will free up croplands [sic] for growing much-needed human plant food instead of livestock feed, while releasing some grazing land to support natural climate solutions.” Last month, William J. Ripple (one of the lead authors of this report) along with 64 other scientists signed a demand letter urging mayors worldwide to take climate action by reducing the amount of meat and dairy served to children in school cafeterias.