The Butterfly Effect: The power to create change felt around the world

If you’ve watched our Pantanal video released this week, you know that what’s happening thousands of miles away in Brazil is not an isolated issue. The burning of forests and wetlands and the brutal slaughter of cows in unlicensed slaughterhouses are directly connected to us all.

How?

As our footage shows, land is cleared in Brazil for two main reasons: first, to grow soy, most of which is used as animal feed on factory farms worldwide. Secondly, to raise cows who will be slaughtered and sold for meat, which again will be sent around the world.

This means that companies operating in the United States, for example–those that import soy from Brazil and confine, exploit, and slaughter billions of innocent animals on factory farms–are also responsible. And just as much responsibility belongs to the companies that import meat from Brazil and sell it to people in the US while hiding what they are doing to animals and the planet.

Industrial farming is a global problem that happens on a local level to all of us, triggering a long chain of animal suffering and the destruction of entire ecosystems.

If deforestation continues at the current rate, in a few years we will no longer have trees that are crucial for absorbing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

It’s scientific consensus that greenhouse gases are the leading cause of global warming, and we’re alarmingly close to the 2.7°F maximum threshold set by climate change experts.

As if that were not enough, fires, and deforestation are destroying some of the most diverse and rich habitats on the planet, home to countless animal and plant species.

But within all this terrible news, there is also a reason for hope. There is a way to turn the tables and feel empowered to do something to change the course of history and the fate of billions of animals.

Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect?

It’s an idea that says, in the incredibly complex world that we live in, where everything is connected, the smallest actions can have a huge impact on the rest of the world.

The name, ‘butterfly effect,’ comes from a popular analogy that just the flap of a butterfly’s wings can set off a chain of events that could cause a hurricane on the other side of the world.

This is more than just an idea. It is a metaphor for how the power we hold over the world is often much greater than we might think or feel. Although each person’s choices may seem small, in the right conditions, they have the potential to create change that is felt around the world.

This has particular significance as we watch the fires burning in Brazil from afar. Just like the butterfly and the hurricane, these are not isolated events. We know that what happens in Brazil is directly connected to what happens in the US and the rest of the world.

With this idea in mind, you have the power to do something about it.

Fighting the meat industry where you live is the same as fighting deforestation on the other side of the world.

If we want to stop our planet from being destroyed and save the animals that are being exploited and killed on factory farms, we have to fight the industry that is doing it.

You don’t need to join our investigators and go undercover in factory farms and slaughterhouses to expose the truth. You don’t need to put your life at risk like so many brave activists do in Brazil.

The greatest way you can take action today is with a donation. Animal Equality’s footage–showing burning wetlands and cows slaughtered brutally in unlicensed slaughterhouses–can’t be ignored. Every time we release images like these and use them effectively with our international campaign efforts, governments and even the largest companies are held accountable and pressured to change. Together, we must continue to expose what the industry tries to hide.

We are up against a powerful industry and change will always be challenging. But with determination, we will continue to make progress. Never forget that there are more of us than them–if we all choose to fight for what is right, we can win!