satellite data from the United Nations researchers at Stanford
University in California, USA have found that more than 80% of
agricultural land expansion in the tropics between 1980 and 2000
did not come from use of existing land but instead resulted from
deforestation of primarily rainforests. What has also been
documented is that the forests are being cleared to create
pastureland for livestock as well as to grow crops such as soya
and palm oil products used for animal Stanford researcher and
study author Dr. Holly Gibbs stated, “This has huge implications
for global warming, if we continue to expand our farmland into
tropical forests at that rate.” An earlier study, “Climate
Benefits of Changing Diet,” from the Netherlands Environmental
Assessment Agency, found that a global shift to a vegan diet
would result in significant reforestation, along with an 80%
reduction in climate change mitigation costs. Thank you, Dr.
Gibbs, Stanford colleagues and Netherlands Environmental
Assessment Agency for highlighting