Protein Footprint Research Paper

In this week's forum one of the question ask is, how big is my protein footprint? It also asks, does a meat rich diet have a negative impact on our environment? And does it contribute to global warming? With a very small percentage of Americans following a vegetarian diet. I will say that my protein footprint is about the same as the majority of the US population. I understand that a good source of protein can be found in nuts, black beans and lentils. However the number one source of protein in a US household, comes from a diet full of beef, poultry, fish eggs and dairy products. My protein footprint covers each individual source of proteins with meats being the main source for it. On a daily basis my diet contains some kind of meat. For instance, at breakfast it is a sure thing for me to have eggs or dairy products such as cheese, milk or butter. A typical lunch and dinner for me will have one of the meats with primary poultry or fish and many times with black beans or lentils over rice. To answer the above
The question that arose was if a high meat diet is a factor in global warming? Global warming is causing largely by too much carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. This CO2 is acting like a cover in the atmosphere inclosing the heat and this is warming the earth. The burning down of thousands of acres (deforestation) to make place to raise crops and cattle is one of the contributors to global warming. According to the Union of Concern Scientists "Any action to reduce or eliminate the release of heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere helps slow the rate of warming"(Ultimate Hot Map, 2011). Deforestation discharges hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon into the atmosphere sharing the blame on global warming. Reforestation won't totally fix the problem causing the global warming. But the more trees the earth has the lower the CO2 and the higher oxygen it will