Climate change and animal welfare are deeply interconnected. Factory farming contributes to climate change while climate change worsens animal welfare across wild, farmed, and companion species.
The relationship between climate change and animal welfare operates in multiple directions. Factory farming contributes significantly to climate change, which then increases animal suffering through habitat destruction, sea level rise, extreme weather, and prey disruption. Heat stress in farmed animals causes welfare problems that worsen as temperatures rise. Companion animals and wildlife face heatwave mortality. The most impactful individual action - reducing animal product consumption - addresses both climate change and direct animal suffering simultaneously.