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Passage 28
When you think about the growth of human population over the last century or so, it is all too easy to imagine it merely as an increase in the number of humans. But as we _1_, so do all the things associated with us, including our livestock. At present, there are about 1.5 billion _2_ and domestic buffalo and about 1.7 billion sheep and goats. With pigs and poultry, they form a _3_ part of our enormous biological footprint upon this planet.
Just how enormous was not really _4_ until the publication of a new report, called “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Consider these numbers. Global livestock grazing and feed production use “30 percent of the land surface of the planet.” Livestock—which consume more food than they _5_—also compete directly with humans for water. And the drive to expand grazing land destroys more biologically sensitive land, rain forests _6_, than anything else.
But what is even more striking, and _7_, is that livestock are responsible for about 18 percent of the global warming effect, more than transportation’s _8_. Greenhouse gases, such as methane and nitrogen，are resulted from their digestion. Grazing land, which destroys forests, adds to the effect.
There are no easy trade-offs when it comes to global warming—such as cutting back on livestock to make room for care. The human _9_ for meat is certainly not about to end anytime soon. As “Livestock’s Long Shadow” makes clear, our health and the health of the planet depend on pushing livestock production in more _10_ directions.
A)yield B)contribution C)stain D)ideally
E)apparent F)multiply G)cattle H)passion
I)scrape J)critical K)liable L)sustainable
M)deposit N)alarming O)especially
