Climate Change and Livestock Production: A Literature Review

Globally, the climate is changing, and this has implications for livestock. Climate affects livestock growth rates, milk and egg production, reproductive performance, morbidity, and mortality, along with feed supply. Simultaneously, livestock is a climate change driver, generating 14.5% of total ant...

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Main Authors: Muxi Cheng, Bruce McCarl, Chengcheng Fei
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-01-01
Series:Atmosphere
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/1/140
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author Muxi Cheng
Bruce McCarl
Chengcheng Fei
author_facet Muxi Cheng
Bruce McCarl
Chengcheng Fei
author_sort Muxi Cheng
collection DOAJ
description Globally, the climate is changing, and this has implications for livestock. Climate affects livestock growth rates, milk and egg production, reproductive performance, morbidity, and mortality, along with feed supply. Simultaneously, livestock is a climate change driver, generating 14.5% of total anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Herein, we review the literature addressing climate change and livestock, covering impacts, emissions, adaptation possibilities, and mitigation strategies. While the existing literature principally focuses on ruminants, we extended the scope to include non-ruminants. We found that livestock are affected by climate change and do enhance climate change through emissions but that there are adaptation and mitigation actions that can limit the effects of climate change. We also suggest some research directions and especially find the need for work in developing country settings. In the context of climate change, adaptation measures are pivotal to sustaining the growing demand for livestock products, but often their relevance depends on local conditions. Furthermore, mitigation is key to limiting the future extent of climate change and there are a number of possible strategies.
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spelling doaj.art-a4d109395e7945fd94799f2632a38a982023-11-23T12:57:49ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332022-01-0113114010.3390/atmos13010140Climate Change and Livestock Production: A Literature ReviewMuxi Cheng0Bruce McCarl1Chengcheng Fei2Department of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USADepartment of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USADepartment of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77840, USAGlobally, the climate is changing, and this has implications for livestock. Climate affects livestock growth rates, milk and egg production, reproductive performance, morbidity, and mortality, along with feed supply. Simultaneously, livestock is a climate change driver, generating 14.5% of total anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. Herein, we review the literature addressing climate change and livestock, covering impacts, emissions, adaptation possibilities, and mitigation strategies. While the existing literature principally focuses on ruminants, we extended the scope to include non-ruminants. We found that livestock are affected by climate change and do enhance climate change through emissions but that there are adaptation and mitigation actions that can limit the effects of climate change. We also suggest some research directions and especially find the need for work in developing country settings. In the context of climate change, adaptation measures are pivotal to sustaining the growing demand for livestock products, but often their relevance depends on local conditions. Furthermore, mitigation is key to limiting the future extent of climate change and there are a number of possible strategies.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/1/140livestock productionadaptationmitigation
spellingShingle Muxi Cheng
Bruce McCarl
Chengcheng Fei
Climate Change and Livestock Production: A Literature Review
Atmosphere
livestock production
adaptation
mitigation
title Climate Change and Livestock Production: A Literature Review
title_full Climate Change and Livestock Production: A Literature Review
title_fullStr Climate Change and Livestock Production: A Literature Review
title_full_unstemmed Climate Change and Livestock Production: A Literature Review
title_short Climate Change and Livestock Production: A Literature Review
title_sort climate change and livestock production a literature review
topic livestock production
adaptation
mitigation
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/13/1/140
work_keys_str_mv AT muxicheng climatechangeandlivestockproductionaliteraturereview
AT brucemccarl climatechangeandlivestockproductionaliteraturereview
AT chengchengfei climatechangeandlivestockproductionaliteraturereview