Climate change creates direct welfare harms for animals through heat stress, habitat loss, and extreme weather. Meanwhile, animal agriculture is a major driver of the very climate change that threatens animal welfare.
The intersection of climate change and animal welfare creates compounding harms. Heat waves cause direct thermal stress in farmed animals without access to cooling, and in wildlife unable to thermoregulate. Ocean warming bleaches corals that support entire marine food webs, affecting billions of fish and invertebrates. Drought forces wildlife into human-dominated landscapes, increasing conflict-related killing. The irony is that intensive animal agriculture — which already creates massive welfare harms — is also a leading cause of the climate change that amplifies those harms and creates new ones. Reducing animal product consumption and improving welfare simultaneously addresses climate and welfare goals.