QUESTION 4

Read the passage below. Comment on whether you accept the claims for which the author, Kevin Stock, is cited as an authority. Specifically,

(a) identify the main claim(s) which Kevin Stock's authority is being used to support

(b) state whether you would accept the claim(s) on the source’s word and explain your answer

(10 marks)

Over the last several weeks, I’ve been curious how much I am contributing to global warming by adopting a carnivorous diet. So I dug in, read and researched, and here, report my findings.

There are 2 sides to the equation. There is the carbon we release through emissions like transportation and energy production. Then there is carbon which is taken out of the atmosphere and stored in what are known as carbon sinks. The problem is we’re emitting more and more carbon and sequestering less.

By cutting down forest, plowing land, and overgrazing pastures we destroy carbon sinks especially the soils which stores more carbon than all vegetation and the atmosphere combined. Over 2/3rd of the planet’s land is desertifying — turning grasslands into desert and destroying soil. When livestock like cattle, sheep, and goats overgraze on plants they leave the soil bare and cause desertification. And this is really the main reason meat has been linked to global warming. Animals destroy the soil.

But this confused me. Just a couple centuries ago, between 30–60 million bison roamed North America — so it should be one big desert — but it isn’t. Thanks to a guy named Alan Savory he figured out the paradox. Grazers like bison protect themselves in the wild by forming herds. A key component of herds is that they keep moving. They trample the soil then move on. This natural phenomenon prevented overgrazing of plants as well as provided good coverage of the soil. As Allan Savory discovered when we mimic nature and herd these grazers, let them trample and then move them along…desertification reverses and grasslands reform and soil health returns. It’s estimated that if we use this holistic approach of planned grazing to just half the world’s grasslands we can go back to pre-industrial carbon levels, reverse climate change, and feed the world.

So animals are not to blame for climate change, on the contrary they are a vital part in the solution to restoring our carbon sinks and saving us all from a heat death.

Adapted from Meat and Global Warming, written by Dr Kevin Stock, Published on Medium, May 2, 2018

Background Information on Dr Kevin Stock:

Dr Kevin Stock is a strict carnivore and self-experimental researcher, passionate about health and fitness. He was the founder, CEO of both Muscle Science and Meat Health which provides online health and fitness education including advocating a meat based diet. He is a national level physique competitor. Kevin Stock completed a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) at the UMKC school of dentistry and began his professional career as a Dental Sleep Medicine doctor. He specialised in treating Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) in his private practice. From there he invented the NED Device, an intranasal device designed to treat snoring and OSA.