A single kilo of beef creates 70kg of emissions. This feedlot in Colorado can hold 98,000 cattle.

每生产一公斤牛肉产生70公斤的废气。科罗拉多州的这个养殖场可以饲养98000头牛。

The global production of food is responsible for a third of all planet-heating gases emitted by human activity, with the use of animals for meat causing twice the pollution of producing plant-based foods, a major new study has found.

一项新研究发现，人类活动排放的三分之一的温室气体是由全球食品生产造成的，动物肉制品生产造成的污染是生产植物食品的两倍。
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The entire system of food production, such as the use of farming machinery, spraying of fertilizer and transportation of products, causes 17.3bn metric tonnes of greenhouse gases a year, according to the research. This enormous release of gases that fuel the climate crisis is more than double the entire emissions of the US and represents 35% of all global emissions, researchers said.

根据这项研究显示，整个食品生产系统，如农业机械的使用、化肥的喷洒和产品的运输，每年将造成173亿吨温室气体。研究人员说，全球变暖元凶之一的这些气体排放量是美国每年温室气体总排放量的两倍多，占全球总排放量的35%。

“The emissions are at the higher end of what we expected, it was a little bit of a surprise,” said Atul Jain, a climate scientist at the University of Illinois and co-author of the paper, published in Nature Food. “This study shows the entire cycle of the food production system, and policymakers may want to use the results to think about how to control greenhouse gas emissions.”

“排放量在我们预期的更高的水平上，这有点令人吃惊，”伊利诺伊大学的气候科学家和在《自然食品》发表论文的共同作者之一Atul Jain说。“这项研究显示了食品生产系统的整个周期，政策制定者者可能有望借此利用研究结果好好考虑如何控制温室气体排放。”

The raising and culling of animals for food is far worse for the climate than growing and processing fruits and vegetables for people to eat, the research found, confirming previous findings on the outsized impact that meat production, particularly beef, has on the environment.

研究发现，饲养和宰杀动物作为食物对气候的影响远比种植和加工供人食用的水果和蔬菜糟糕，这证实了先前关于肉类生产，特别是牛肉生产对环境的巨大影响的研究结果。

The use of cows, pigs and other animals for food, as well as livestock feed, is responsible for 57% of all food production emissions, the research found, with 29% coming from the cultivation of plant-based foods. The rest comes from other uses of land, such as for cotton or rubber. Beef alone accounts for a quarter of emissions produced by raising and growing food.

研究发现，使用牛、猪和其他动物作为食物以及这些牲畜所需饲料，占所有食品生产排放的57%，而来自植物食品种植产生的排放只占29%。其余部分来自土地的其他用途，如种植棉花或橡胶。单是牛肉生产加工就占了饲养和种植食品产生的总排放量的四分之一。

Grazing animals require a lot of land, which is often cleared through the felling of forests, as well as vast tracts of additional land to grow their feed. The paper calculates that the majority of all the world’s cropland is used to feed livestock, rather than people. Livestock also produce large quantities of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

放牧动物需要大量的土地，这些土地通常通过砍伐森林清理出来，还需要大量额外的土地来种植它们的饲料。该报告计算出，世界上大部分农田用于饲养牲畜，而不是用来喂饱人类。牲畜也会产生大量的甲烷，这是一种重度的温室气体。

“All of these things combined means that the emissions are very high,” said Xiaoming Xu, another University of Illinois researcher and the lead author of the paper. “To produce more meat you need to feed the animals more, which then generates more emissions. You need more biomass to feed animals in order to get the same amount of calories. It isn’t very efficient.”

“所有这些结合在一起意味着排放量非常高，”另一位伊利诺伊大学的研究员和该论文的主要作者Xiaoming Xu说。“为了生产更多的肉，你需要给动物生产更多的食物，这会产生更多的排放。你需要更多的总量来喂养动物，同时产生相同数量的热量。这不是一种有效的生产方式。”

The difference in emissions between meat and plant production is stark – to produce 1kg of wheat, 2.5kg of greenhouse gases are emitted. A single kilo of beef, meanwhile, creates 70kg of emissions. The researchers said that societies should be aware of this significant discrepancy when addressing the climate crisis.

肉类生产和植物生产之间的排放差异是巨大的——生产1公斤小麦，排放2.5公斤温室气体。同时，一公斤牛肉产生70公斤的温室气体。研究人员说，在应对气候危机时，社会应该意识到这一重大差异。
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“I’m a strict vegetarian and part of the motivation for this study was to find out my own carbon footprint, but it’s not our intention to force people to change their diets,” said Jain. “A lot of this comes down to personal choice. You can’t just impose your views on others. But if people are concerned about climate change, they should seriously consider changing their dietary habits.”

Jain说：“我是一个严格的素食主义者，这项研究的部分动机是发现我自身的碳排放足迹，但我们无意强迫人们改变饮食”，“这取决于个人的选择。你不能把你的观点强加给别人。但是如果人们关心气候变化，他们应该认真考虑改变他们的饮食习惯。”

The researchers built a database that provided a consistent emissions profile of 171 crops and 16 animal products, drawing data from more than 200 countries. They found that South America is the region with the largest share of animal-based food emissions, followed by south and south-east Asia and then China. Food-related emissions have grown rapidly in China and India as increasing wealth and cultural changes have led more younger people in these countries to adopt meat-based diets.

研究人员建立了一个数据库，收集了200多个国家的数据，提供了171种作物和16种动物产品的碳排放概况。他们发现，南美洲是动物性食品排放量最大的地区，其次是南亚和东南亚，然后是中国。在中国和印度，随着财富的增加和文化的改变，越来越多的年轻人开始食用肉类饮食，与肉类食品相关的排放量迅速增加。
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The paper’s calculations of the climate impact of meat is higher than previous estimates – the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization has said about 14% of all emissions come from meat and diary production. The climate crisis is also itself a cause of hunger, with a recent study finding that a third of global food production will be at risk by the end of the century if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise at their current rate.

该论文对肉类之于气候影响的计算结果高于此前的估值——联合国粮农组织表示，约14%的排放来自肉类和乳制品生产。气候危机本身也是导致饥荒的原因，最近的一项研究发现，如果温室气体排放量继续以目前的速度增长，到本世纪末，全球三分之一的粮食生产将面临风险。

Scientists have consistently stressed that if dangerous global heating is to be avoided, a major rethink of eating habits and farming practices is required. Meat production has now expanded to the point that there are now approximately three chickens for every human on the planet.

科学家们一直强调，如果要避免危险的全球变暖，就需要对饮食习惯和耕作方式进行重大反思。肉类生产现在已经扩大到地球上人均三只鸡（笑了）。

Lewis Ziska, a plant physiologist at Columbia University who was not involved in the research said the paper is a “damn good study” that should be given “due attention” at the upcoming UN climate talks in Scotland.

哥伦比亚大学的植物学家Lewis Ziska没有参与这项研究。但他指出，这篇论文是一项“非常好的研究”，应该在即将在苏格兰举行的联合国气候会议上给予“应有的重视”。

“A fundamental unknown in global agriculture is its impact on greenhouse gas emissions,” Ziska said. “While previous estimates have been made, this effort represents a gold standard that will serve as an essential reference in the years to come.”

Ziska说：“全球农业的一个未知因素是它对温室气体排放的影响”。“虽然此前已经做出了估算，但这一努力代表一个黄金标准，在未来几年将成为重要的参考。”