Environment and being a vegetarian

Some of the websites I have looked at while doing research for my paper have linked being a vegetarian and helping the environment. I never really thought of the environment and vegetarian's as being interconnected, but they most definitely are. The website I used to learn about being a vegetarian and the environment was http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/teennutrition.htm. The author of this website said, " vegetarian's represents a positive move toward a cleaner and more compassionate world, a reduction in global hunger, and improved personal health." The author went on to explain how meat productions have a negative affect on tropical rain forests and air and water quality. Also, animals are being raised to be killed for food. The author also stated that being a vegetarian helps your personal health because vegetarians have a lower risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and obesity. Another website that claims being a vegetarian will save the environment is, http://www.vsc.org/environment1.htm. Some of the facts on this website are, " Meat production and livestock agriculture use more energy per capital then the less developed countries spend per capita on energy for all purposes. Also, it is estimated that 80% of all the water used by agriculture goes directly or indirectly for animal products." Forests are also being ruined by meat consumption. The website state that, " The single most important reason for deforestation in the United States and much of the rest of the world is cattle grazing. " As forests change the climate starts to change aswell. "It has been widely observed that rainfall increases in forested areas, decreases in areas that have been deprived of forests. Forests are usually replaced by cows, which belch huge quantities of methane into the atmosphere, contributing substantially to the greenhouse effect." Thins website really shows how much danger our environment is in today. In my opinion this website is a little bit extreme. At the end of the website it says the only way to really save the environment is for everyone to stop eating meat. That is an impossible thing to ask from the world and there are many other factors that would harm out environment even if everyone stopped eating meat.