5 August 2024

In the past couple of weeks, we've experienced 4 of the hottest days on record (worldwide), extraordinary heat at the Olympics (Paris) and torrential rain and HAIL (my Westchester hometown included). If it seems as if the weather is getting more erratic and dangerous, that's because it is. Climate change is here, but there's still plenty we can do about it.

It's a little bit like a healthy diet. It's generally better to start early and prevent the side effects of poor choices (heart disease, diabetes, cancer, reduced quality of life and/or lifespan), but once you're there (MD shouting you must do something now or you'll die), that's the place you need to start from.

Yes, scientists have been talking about climate change for decades (did I mention that my middle school science project was a demonstration of how greenhouse gases [dry ice!] warm the atmosphere?), and some advances have been made in mitigating disaster, but still…here we are.

Dangerous heat in Paris did more than mess with Simone Biles' hair (she’s beautiful AND the GOAT regardless!). Temperatures 5° hotter than they would have been without climate change meant putting our athletes at risk. So if you care about the Summer Olympics, you'll want to do something.

Fortunately, we know the main things contributing to these higher temps and extreme weather events; it's fossil fuels (75% of CO2 emissions), deforestation (nearly half of the 13-20% of CO2 emissions attributed to Agriculture, Forestry and Land Use) and animal agriculture (beef is directly responsible for 41% of deforestation).

Fossil fuels + Deforestation + Animal agriculture → 5.2° hotter

What can we do about it? Eating less meat is a great start. In a study of popular eating patterns in the US - where 86% of participants were omnivorous and less than 1% were vegan - the difference in greenhouse gas emissions between diets was startling.  The vegan diet resulted in less than one third of the greenhouse gas emissions as compared to the omnivorous diet. Adding an additional percentage point or two to the vegan group is going to have nowhere near the same impact as getting the 86% of omnivores to cut their meat consumption in half!

Vegan diet → 0.69 kg GGE/1000 kcals → 504 kg/year

Vegetarian diet → 1.16 kg GGE/1000 kcals → 847 kg/year

Pescatarian diet → 1.66 kg GGE/1000 kcals → 1211 kg/year

Omnivorous diet → 2.23 kg GGE/1000 kcals → 1628 kg/year

That's why I'm here to show you how delicious and easy it can be to add more meatless meals to your routine. It's good for your health, good for the planet, and good for our athletes in Paris!

If you're here reading this, I may be preaching to the choir, so my ask of you is:

share this info with two friends. Many people don't realize the power we have as a group to influence policy, the economy, our food system and our future. Share my article(s) or recommend my social media to them.  And if you have ideas about how to spread this powerful and wonderful message, please let me know.