New Map Reveals the Carbon Cost of Meat in Every U.S. City

The meat industry is a significant contributor to climate change, with livestock supply chains accounting for roughly 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Per capita meat consumption in the U.S. is among the highest in the world, with Americans eating significantly more meat than the global average.

To gain a clearer picture of how meat consumption drives greenhouse gas emissions across the country, researchers calculated and mapped the “carbon hoofprint” of every city in the contiguous United States. The findings, published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change , reveal the environmental impacts of the sprawling supply chains that deliver beef, pork, and chicken to Americans.

Unique cities, one big impact

Goldstein and his colleagues used the Food System Supply-Chain S