“This is an important opportunity for climate action that sometimes gets overlooked…Shifting toward more plant-based diets, especially in countries with high meat consumption, could make a meaningful difference.”
This quote from William Ripple, an ecology professor at Oregon State University, is from an article describing how global warming is producing significant shifts in the planet’s overall health and destabilizing the climate. The article references the seventh annual report from BioScience, an academic journal from Oxford University, which analyzes 16 climate markers to determine the current state of the global climate. In the 2026 study, 7 of the 16 markers reached their most extreme level of distress ever measured.
The bottom line, according to Ripple, is that there is no way to address global warming without also making changes to what we eat and how it’s produced. “Our growing demand for meat is putting enormous pressure on the climate, land, and water at a time when all three are already under stress,” he said.
Learn how to reduce your environmental footprint through plant-based eating by visiting the Plant-Based Eating page on Green Newton’s website or connecting with a volunteer Plant-Based Eating Coach.