Admittedly, it would be better for the environment if the world went off steak (and lamb) altogether.

But ending beef consumption won't happen anytime soon. There is a lot of pent-up demand for meat, with vast populations that have never had a bite. If the denizens of Brooklyn, Berkeley and other enlightened spots around the world all slashed their beef intake, plenty of people in less-advantaged places would welcome the falling prices as an opportunity to order steak.

Grass-fed cows grow more slowly than those fattened with grain, burping methane the whole time. Moreover, organic feed also requires more land to produce, further encouraging deforestation. An evaluation by the World Resources Institute of multiple studies on the carbon impact of farming concluded that grass-fed, organic and free-range meat and dairy production systems used more land per gram of protein 90 percent of the time and emitted more greenhouse gases in 70 percent of the cases.

A second-best solution, then, would be to let go of the idyllic image of a family farm we all have somewhere in our mind's eye ' of a denim-clad farmer walking from a barn to a pasture, calling out the names of his pampered cows. We need to instead embrace the reality that this guy's operation does more damage to the climate per pound of beef than corporate farms do. Factory farms where cows don't have names and are grown much faster, fattened in feedlots with no pastures in sight, are better for the environment.

There are a variety of things that can be done to take pressure off the land, from reducing food waste to eating less meat and growing fewer biofuels. But reviving the family farm is not among them. Agriculture needs more science ' more high-tech crops, fertilizers and herbicides. It needs more genetic engineering, not less.

Meanwhile, if you plan to keep splurging on rib-eyes, make sure they're not free-range and grass-fed. The planet will thank you.

Mother Nature is hard to fight sometimes

On Jan. 8, an air monitor in Chinatown — about 10 miles downwind of the Eaton fire — recorded 483.7 micrograms per cubic meter of fine particulate matter, according to preliminary data from the California Air Resources Board. It was the highest hourly reading by an Environmental Protection Agency-sanctioned air monitor in Los Angeles County in more than four years — only outmatched by clouds of smoke from Fourth of July fireworks in 2020.

At these levels, this microscopic pollution becomes hazardous. Although the magnitude of the effects of this kind of pollution is still not entirely clear, studies show that it is linked to an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and serious lung damage.

One reason is that salt water can lead to the corrosion of important firefighting equipment.

Another reason is that salt water can cause lasting damage to the environment. As Futurism detailed, most local ecosystems are only accustomed to fresh water, and the introduction of salt can impact the growth of plant life for years to come

The Paris Agreement was about a year old when 'Old Donald' announced that he served the people “of Pittsburgh, not Paris” and was withdrawing. The move stirred international shock — and fears that other countries might follow the U.S. out the door.

More and more people are living in places that are highly exposed to weather that will get nastier with climate change — places that are already hot, communities along the coasts vulnerable to storms and sites in or near increasingly flammable forests

"The time has come to voice our fears and be honest with wider society. Current net zero policies will not keep warming to within 1.5°C because they were never intended to. They were and still are driven...to protect business as usual, not the climate."

At ‘moment of peril,’ Joe Biden Reasserts U.S. Leadership on Climate Change

Climate Change Has Now Invisibly Shifted Earth's Axis, New Data Reveal

Here’s what countries pledged on climate change at Biden’s global summit

President Biden will commit the United States to cutting emissions by half by the end of the decade at a virtual Earth Day summit.

Sir David Attenborough offers his 'witness statement,' and a warning, in 'A Life on Our Planet'

Sir David Attenborough on Joe Biden, Christmas wrapping... and flamingos

Not particularly unusual for a Sir David documentary, you might think.

But this time, the focus is on how the forces of nature - weather, ocean currents, solar energy and volcanoes - drive and support life on earth, and how wildlife adapts to whatever the environment throws at it.

Biden, who is set to be inaugurated on 20 January, has pledged to build a diverse administration that reflects the US.

"We're in a crisis," he said. "Just like we need to be a unified nation to respond to Covid-19, we need a unified national response to climate change."