Climate change impacts on animal welfare in livestock systems

Global climate change increasingly affects agricultural and livestock production with an overwhelmingly negative effect on the health and wellbeing of livestock. The livestock sector must urgently seek for more efficient and sustainable productivity and meet higher standards of animal welfare. The negative effects of climate change on animal health and welfare are the consequence of the combined changes in atmospheric temperature, rainfall, and frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events that can be both direct and indirect. Agro-livestock sector practices should consider the need for continuous adaptation (resilience) to an ever-changing environment that offers solutions to buffer climate extremes, changing nutrient availability, seasonal forage availability, disease epidemiology, and other challenges that will be added in an environment of heterogeneous conditions. This review aims to document the most up-to-date scientific knowledge on the impact of climate change on animal health and welfare, the adaptation strategies of livestock systems that can be implemented to reduce this impact, as well as identifying opportunities to investigate new strategies of adaptation.