Rising temperatures due to climate change are increasing heat stress in farmed animals globally. This emerging welfare crisis requires adaptation measures that are often at odds with current intensive farming models.
Livestock heat stress represents a climate-welfare nexus where climate change directly amplifies welfare harm in existing intensive systems. High stocking density systems that are already welfare-compromising become acutely dangerous during heatwaves. Animals that cannot thermoregulate effectively suffer physiological distress including panting, reduced movement, organ damage, and death. This is a welfare crisis that is quantifiable, attributable to specific management conditions, and projected to worsen. Adapting farming systems to reduce heat stress — lower stocking densities, improved ventilation, outdoor shade access — aligns welfare improvement with climate adaptation. Climate action that reduces warming also reduces the severity of future heat stress welfare crises.