Effect of Global Warming on Livestock Production and Reproduction: An Overview

Global warming refers to the increase in the earth’s average temperature due to the accumulation of green house gases in the atmosphere. Due to global warming, there is a climate change which poses alarming challenge to the development of livestock sector in India with an anticipated rise in temperature between 2.3 and 4.8°C together with increased precipitation. This causes thermal stress to animals. Effect of thermal stress on animal health mainly includes reduction of production and reproduction traits in animals. Reduction in milk production is one of the major economic impacts of thermal stress in dairy cattle. Heat stress is of major concern for the poultry industry because of the resulting poor growth performances and high mortality rates. Over all, heat stress reduces the reproductive and productive performance of livestock by various means and thus in this review, we presented a brief note of various production and reproduction parameters affected due to global warming. Keywords: Global warming, production, reproduction Cite this Article Balamurugan B, Tejaswi V, Priya K et al. Effect of Global Warming on Livestock Production and Reproduction: An Overview. Research & Reviews: Journal of Veterinary Science and Technology. 2017; 6(3): 12–18p.