Individual lifestyle choices can play a key role in reducing the output of carbon dioxide and other gases generated by human activity that are driving global warming, says the head of the UNโs Nobel Prize-winning scientific panel on climateย change.
So instead of simply waiting for governments to take action, individuals can do their part by cutting meat consumption, walking more and buyingย less.
Rajendra Pachauri an Indian economist and a vegetarian, said the 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlights โthe importance of lifestyle changes,โ and the need for people around the world to curb their carnivorousย appetites.
Studies have shown producing 2.2 pounds of meat causes the emissions equivalent of 80 pounds of carbon dioxide, Pachauri told a press conference. In addition, raising and transporting that slab of beef, lamb or pork requires the same energy as lighting a 100-watt bulb for threeย weeks.
โPlease eat less meat,โ he said, โmeat is a very carbon intensiveย commodity.โ
He also advocated cycling or walking โinstead of jumping in a car to go 500 metres,โ and urged consumers to purchase only what they really need instead of buying something โjust because itโsย there.โ
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