The number of people choosing to eat a vegan diet is on the rise. Their reason for choosing to eat vegan could stem from many different reasons, but there are a couple of known facts regarding a meat diet: consuming meat can not only have an impact on a person's health, but it can also impact the environment. Here are the ways in which a vegan diet actually helps the environment.

1. Reduces Air Pollution

While plants provide clean air, the farming of meat intoxicates it. The farming of animals is the leading producer of greenhouse gas emissions, including nitrous oxide and methane gas. This is surprising to nearly everyone who learns of the fact considering all the attention focusing on automobiles and aircraft.

Raising plants for food, on the hand, creates far fewer emissions. Plants provide another benefit. They currently absorb around 25 percent of carbon emissions being released through the use of fossil fuels, reducing the amount of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere.

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2. Reduces Water Pollution

Every year, agricultural centers produce one trillion pounds of waste. This waste is used to fertilize crops and from there it becomes runoff and enters into waterways. The EPA says this is the leading source of water pollution in rivers and streams and the third largest source for lakes.

When people choose a vegan diet, it cuts down on this pollution. A study by Princeton University found cutting down on meat production would reduce nitrogen in the Gulf's dead zone.

3. Reduces Destruction of Natural Resources

When pasture lands are needed for raising animals, bulldozing takes place, and along with it many ecosystems, pine forests and rainforests. In the United States alone, the land used for animal agriculture takes up nearly half of all and in the lower 48 states. Farm raised animals such as cattle, chickens and pigs are also the largest consumers of water in the U.S. A plant diet requires much less land and water.

4. Restores the Health of the World's Oceans

Marine populations have been greatly diminished by the fishing industry and human pollution. While plastic reduction can help with the pollutants in the ocean, there would remain pollution from herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers. Consumption of fish could also still be devastating in part due to methods used, including plastic fishing nets.

Many vegan options offer the flavor of seafood without bringing harm to marine wildlife. This could cut back on dangerous fishing methods as well as consumption that is outpacing growth.

5. Species of Animals Could be Saved

As more land is needed for agriculture, more wild species of animals find themselves displaced. In fact, the development of agricultural lands is the primary cause of mass extinction. As these animals struggle to survive, they often come head to head with farmers who destroy them in order to protect their cattle. If people were to eat vegan, wildlife populations could rebound and have more land to thrive without competing with humans for food.

Final Thoughts

While harvesting plant food to sustain a growing population would without doubt come with its own unique struggles, they wouldn't come close to comparing to the struggles of raising enough meat for the billions of people currently inhabiting the world. Emissions would be dramatically reduced, lands could be returned to nature and the oceans could once again thrive, chemical free. A vegan diet is certainly worth a second look for anyone who has previously viewed it as impossible.