Livestock Wastes
The livestock sector is a major and growing source of pollution across the world as rising global demand for animal products including beef, pork, poultry, and dairy products is leading livestock operations to not only expand their output, but also...
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| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2018
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/297021521208135402/Livestock-Wastes http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29506 |
| Summary: | The livestock sector is a major and
growing source of pollution across the world as rising
global demand for animal products including beef, pork,
poultry, and dairy products is leading livestock operations
to not only expand their output, but also to concentrate
spatially, intensify, and separate from plant agriculture.
Although livestock system outputs are growing faster than
their spatial footprint—as managed grazing is giving way to
confined, grain-based feeding—this pattern of development
has major drawbacks and this note focuses on those related
to animal wastes.1 In parts of both the developed and
developing world, animal wastes have become a leading source
of surface and ground water pollution as they are a major
vector of unwanted nutrients, and alsocarry pathogens,
antibiotics, hormones, heavy metals, other minerals, and
pesticides. Through the release of particulate matter and
other air pollutants, they are also a cause of foul odors,
haze, acid rain, a loss of soil fertility, and air
quality-related disease, while their potent greenhousegas
emissions contribute to climate change. |
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