The Lorax would be appalled: In 2024, trees vanished faster than ever before—forests the size of 18 soccer fields disappeared every minute, according to researchers at the University of Maryland and the World Resources Institute.

This record-breaking loss included 6.7 million hectares of rainforest, much of which was purposely burned to raise, feed and kill animals for food. In our hotter, drier world, those fires quickly spiral into raging infernos. If we want to save forests—and animals who call them home—we must start with our plates. And go vegan.

Forests—especially tropical rainforests—absorb massive amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. When we destroy them, we lose essential carbon sinks and actively fuel the climate catastrophe.

Here’s how: More carbon means more heat. More heat means more drought. And more drought means more fires. And now, because of deforestation, some forests are emitting more carbon than they absorb. Last year, forest fires released a mind-boggling 4.1 gigatons of greenhouse gases, which is more than four times the emissions from all air travel in 2023.

We’re in a feedback loop of destruction, and in the middle of the smoke and ash is animal agriculture.

Forests aren’t just clusters of trees—they’re entire worlds, vibrant with fungi, insects, mammals, birds and countless plant species. Imagine an orangutan searching for food after her jungle has been charred or a bird struggling to find a place to nest. When we protect forests, we safeguard animals of all kinds—including humans.

If everyone went vegan today, global farmland use could be slashed by over 75%—an area the size of the U.S., the EU, China and Australia combined. That land could be rewilded, reforested and restored. So every time we choose a vegan burger instead of flesh, oat milk creamer over dairy or a tofu scramble instead of eggs, we push back against the industry torching the planet’s lungs. We reduce demand for animal-derived foods and with it the incentive to clear and burn trees and destroy animals’ homes.

And let’s never forget the animals suffering on factory farms right now. If given the chance, pigs snuggle with each other when they sleep and show empathy when another pig is in distress. Cows make best friends, and when they’re happy, they frolic. The term “Mother Hen” is a compliment: Chickens cluck gently to their chicks before they even hatch and protect them from predators. These sentient beings aren’t “products.” They’re parents, thinkers, feelers.

Yet on today’s farms, animals can’t do anything natural or important to them. Instead, workers cram pigs into crates so small they can’t turn around. They slice off their tails and grind down their teeth—all without pain relief. They forcefully impregnate cows using devices the industry calls “rape racks,” then take the calves within hours of birth—causing extreme distress to both mother and infant. They pack chickens by the thousands into windowless sheds and sear off their sensitive beaks with hot blades to prevent stress-induced pecking.

In slaughterhouses, some animals remain conscious as blades slice their throats or when they’re dropped into scalding-hot tanks. Others don’t even make it that far: Over the past decade, more than 8 million animals burned alive in barn fires. These animals will never know sunlight, soil or freedom.

The Lorax once spoke for the trees. He warned us: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” But you don’t have to have orange fur and a big yellow mustache to do something for the planet right now. Going vegan is simple and powerful and something anyone can do.

The choice to care a whole lot has never been more compelling. One path leads to a quiet graveyard of tree stumps and animal corpses. The other leads to compassion. Regeneration. Rewilding. The fork in the road is actually in your hand.

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Rebecca Libauskas is a climate research specialist for the PETA Foundation, 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.PETA.org.

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