Title: Intensive Agriculture: Impact on Humans, Animals, and the Planet
Headings: Intensive Agriculture: Impact on Humans, Animals, and the Planet
Intensive Agriculture: Impact on Humans, Animals, and the Planet
What Is Intensive And Extensive Agriculture?
Types Of Intensive Farming
Livestock
Crops
Aquaculture
Sustainability
What Is An Example Of Intensive Agriculture?
What Are The Characteristics Of Intensive Farming?
Disadvantages Of Intensive Agriculture
Environmental Disadvantages
Poor Living Conditions And Hygiene For Livestock
Excessive Use Of Agro-Chemicals
Deforestation
Risks On Human Health
Higher Risks Of Cancer And Birth Defects
The Use Of Chemical Hormones In Food
Possibility Of Poor-Quality Food Products
Traditional Farmers Are Unable To Compete
Intensive Farming Facts
Intensive Farming Alternatives
Conclusion

Content: Environmental Disadvantages
One of the most troubling environmental disadvantages to industrial agriculture is its contributions to climate change. Globally, agriculture is one of the largest drivers of anthropogenic climate change, accounting for around twelve percent of total emissions, and nearly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. Industrial crop production hampers the ability of soil to act as a carbon sequester, ultimately turning it into a carbon emitter. Animal agriculture (most of which is raised intensively) accounts for large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, including 37% of all methane emissions and 65% of nitrous oxide. Beyond climatic concerns, intensive agriculture produces vast amounts of pollution. Some of the largest dairy farms in the United States can have more than 15,000 cows, producing more waste than can be used as fertilizer on surrounding fields, meaning that much of it collects in open waste lagoons. These pose serious pollution risks to ground and surface water, considering that a farm with only 200 cows can produce as much nitrogen as a community of up to 10,000 people. Runoff from such farms can cause algae blooms, which can devastate freshwater, brackish, and saltwater ecosystems. Poor Living Conditions And Hygiene For Livestock
Animals caught up within intensive agriculture operations – and there are billions of them around the world at any given time – are undoubtedly the most drastically impacted by the rise of factory farms. Egg-laying hens are crammed into battery cages and debeaked in order to prevent them from killing one another in such close confines, while male chicks – who are considered useless in egg production – are ground up alive by the millions.