As the debate on combating global warming is gaining momentum ahead of next month's UN climate summit, British scientists have asked people to "cut a sausage a day" from their diet to save the planet.
Their controversial report, which was backed by Britain's Environment and Food Department, also partly blamed meat-eaters for climate change.
The scientists called for a 30 per cent reduction in the number of farm animals bred for meat to prevent rising temperatures and rising sea levels, The Daily Mail reported.
"The average meat intake in men (in Britain) is 970 gram a week and in women 550 gram a week. A 30 per cent reduction in men is equivalent to seven 40 gram sausages, two 130 gram chicken breasts, four 70 gram lamb chops or 12 bacon rashers of 25 grams," the report said.
According to the scientists, such a reduction would also bring significant health benefits by reducing premature deaths from heart disease in Britain by 17 per cent - equivalent to 18,000 lives a year.
The researchers, led by Dr Alan Dangour from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Dr Sharon Friel of the Australian National University in Canberra, claimed that food production from animals was a major source of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
{{/usCountry}}The researchers, led by Dr Alan Dangour from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Dr Sharon Friel of the Australian National University in Canberra, claimed that food production from animals was a major source of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
{{/usCountry}}And that by 2030, rising demand for meat was expected to drive up livestock production globally by 85 per cent from 2000 levels, leading to substantial emission increases, they said in the report appeared in journal 'The Lancet'.