PETA to Splendour: Go Vegan to Help Avert Future Extreme Weather
After heavy rain put a damper on Splendour in the Grass 2022, PETA has sent a letter to the festival’s organisers urging them to make the event vegan as a means of minimising its climate footprint.
Friday’s main-stage acts, including headliners Gorillaz, were cancelled due to the extreme weather that once again affected the Byron Bay area.
Flooding and the Climate Catastrophe
Experts say that the climate catastrophe has increased the frequency and intensity of the La Niña weather system, meaning the extreme weather that caused Splendour to be cancelled is part of a much bigger problem.
Simon Bradshaw of Australia’s Climate Council told New Scientist, “We know that because of climate change, we’re seeing more rainfall come in the form of intense and heavy downpours.”
As southern Queensland and northern New South Wales flooded in late February, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its 2022 report, noting the connection between extreme flooding and the climate catastrophe.
“Climate change is already changing Australia’s rainfall; that is, where it rains, when, and how much,” said Ruth Morgan, a lead author of the IPCC report’s chapter on water.
Save Splendour: Go Vegan
Raising and killing animals for food contributes heavily to the many serious environmental problems our planet is facing, including extreme weather patterns that bring about heavy rains.
This month, the Australian government released its “State of the Environment” report, which, aside from containing dire warnings for the nation, indicted animal agriculture as one of the major culprits behind deforestation.
Over 86% of Australia’s agricultural land is used for grazing for ruminant animals, who generate the greenhouse gas methane, which is up to 80 times more effective at heating the Earth than carbon dioxide in its first 20 years after being emitted.
Serving only vegan food is the simplest, most effective thing Splendour can do to help mitigate the effects of the climate catastrophe, as eating vegan reduces an individual’s food-related carbon emissions by up to 73%!
The Golden Globes , the Met Gala , and the Academy Awards have all turned to plant-based menus for the environment. It’s time for Splendour to go fully green, too!