From Somerset to Antarctica: The Cost of Using Animals
In January 2026, parts of Somerset flooded in two days. In 2014 it took two months. Storms are 20% more intense. 6.3 million properties in England are already at risk of flooding, rising to 8 million by 2050.
500 planned flood defence projects have been abandoned. 40% fewer properties will be protected than originally promised. Communities are openly discussing whether homes will have to be abandoned. This is not abstract. This is not 2100. This is now.
The physics is simple. Warmer air holds more water. More water means heavier downpours. The atmosphere does not negotiate with local council budgets.
But why is the atmosphere warming?
The 1.5C Illusion Is Over
2025 was the third hottest year on record. Global temperatures averaged roughly 1.45°C above preindustrial levels. Scientists are now openly saying the Paris target of 1.5°C is effectively dead.
Emissions are still rising. Ten years after governments signed the agreement, carbon pollution continues to climb.
Polar sea ice has fallen to record lows. Antarctica recorded its hottest year. Half the planet’s land experienced strong heat stress days above what used to be normal. We are not slowing down. And we are not honest about why.
The Largest Driver We Refuse to Name
Animal agriculture is the single largest driver of:
• Deforestation
• Biodiversity loss
• Freshwater use
• Land conversion
• Methane emissions
• Ocean dead zones
It occupies around three quarters of global agricultural land while providing a fraction of global calories. Forests are cleared for grazing and for feed crops. Wetlands are drained. Rivers are polluted with slurry. Methane from ruminants accelerates short term warming.
We are not destabilising the climate to grow lentils.
We are doing it to turn sentient beings into commodities.
This is not a side issue. It is the core pressure on land systems.
Antarctica Is Rewriting Its Calendar
In Antarctica, penguins are breeding earlier than in any recorded history. Some gentoo colonies have shifted their breeding season forward by up to 24 days in a decade. That is the fastest phenological shift recorded in any bird. This is what ecological stress looks like.
Species are scrambling to keep up with temperature shifts. If prey does not move at the same speed, chicks starve. If breeding windows overlap, competition intensifies. If sea ice disappears, entire food webs destabilise.
Adélie and chinstrap penguins are declining. Gentoo are expanding into newly ice free areas. There are winners and losers in a warming world.
But this is not adaptation in the romantic sense.
It is survival triage.
And what is melting that ice?
Greenhouse gases. Methane. Nitrous oxide. Carbon dioxide.
A significant share of which comes from animal agriculture.
Flooded Fields, Cleared Forests
In the UK, flood scientists are calling for more nature based solutions. Plant trees. Block upland drains. Slow the flow.
But we have already stripped vast areas of tree cover to create pasture and feed cropland. We compact soils with livestock. We replace complex ecosystems with monocultures.
When heavy rain falls on degraded land, it runs.
It overwhelms drainage systems built for a different climate. It saturates fields designed to maximise short term yields. It rushes downstream into homes.
We created the conditions for flash flooding long before the rain intensified.
Animal agriculture is not just a climate issue. It is a land use issue. A hydrology issue. A soil structure issue.
Mass Extinction in Real Time
Scientists warn that losing several penguin species this century could destabilise Antarctic ecosystems. Across the globe, vertebrate populations have plummeted. Insects are collapsing. Amphibians are vanishing. The primary driver of species extinction is habitat loss.
And the primary cause of habitat loss globally is the expansion of agriculture for animal use.
We clear rainforest to graze cattle.
We trawl oceans to feed farmed fish.
We divert rivers for feed crops.
We poison landscapes to protect monocultures.
Then we act surprised when ecosystems unravel.
This is not accidental.
It is structural.
We treat other animals as property.
As commodities.
As means to an end.
And the biosphere bends around that mindset.
Adaptation Is Not a Strategy for Justice
Politicians talk about resilience. Flood pumps. Barriers. Insurance. Managing overshoot.
But you cannot engineer your way out of ecological overshoot while maintaining the system that caused it.
You cannot keep 8 million homes dry every winter while continuing to drive methane emissions from ruminant herds. You cannot protect polar ecosystems while expanding fishing fleets and aquaculture operations that further disrupt marine systems.
We are trying to mop the floor while the tap is running.
The Core Question
If using other animals were not profitable, would we still be clearing forests at this scale?
If turning sentient beings into products were not normalised, would we still be converting entire biomes into feedlots?
This is not about personal purity. It is about systemic change.
Animal exploitation is not a marginal contributor to ecological collapse. It is one of its engines.
Until we reject the idea that other animals are here to be used, the atmosphere will continue to warm, the ice will continue to melt, the rain will continue to intensify, and communities will continue to discuss abandonment.
The climate crisis is not just a carbon story.
It is a supremacy story.
And unless we dismantle that hierarchy, the floodwaters will keep rising.