The 1 Hamburger a Day Global Warming Solution

If people in America and other rich nations could limit their consumption of meat to the equivalent of one hamburger per day, it would significantly cut global warming, according to a study in the Lancet written about in the Daily Telegraph.

Currently, Americans get 199 calories per day from chicken, 209 from pork and 119 from beef -- the equivalent of roughly three quarter pounders, based on The Daily Green's cocktail napkin calculation using data from Environmental Defense, calorie-count.com and other sources readily at hand. According to the Lancet study, 22% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture -- roughly equivalent to the contribution from factories and transportation.

Agriculture's emissions are dominated by livestock production (80% of pollution) so cutting back on meat consumption could significantly cut the nation's contribution to global warming. Environmental Defense has been advocating a similar, slightly more mild, strategy: Just eliminate one meal of meat per week. If every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetables and grains, according to the environmental group, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads.

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