Killer cow emissions (Cause more global warming than autos)

LA Times ^ | 15 October 2007 | Staff

[shrinkermd]

It's a silent but deadly source of greenhouse gases that contributes more to global warming than the entire world transportation sector, yet politicians almost never discuss it, and environmental lobbyists and other green activist groups seem unaware of its existence.

That may be because it's tough to take cow flatulence seriously. But livestock emissions are no joke.

Most of the national debate about global warming centers on carbon dioxide, the world's most abundant greenhouse gas, and its major sources -- fossil fuels. Seldom mentioned is that cows and other ruminants, such as sheep and goats, are walking gas factories that take in fodder and put out methane and nitrous oxide, two greenhouse gases that are far more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. Methane, with 21 times the warming potential of CO2, comes from both ends of a cow, but mostly the front. Frat boys have nothing on bovines, as it's estimated that a single cow can belch out anywhere from 25 to 130 gallons of methane a day.

It isn't just the gas they pass that makes livestock troublesome. A report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization identified livestock as one of the two or three top contributors to the world's most serious environmental problems, including water pollution and species loss. In terms of climate change, livestock are a threat not only because of the gases coming from their stomachs and manure but because of deforestation, as land is cleared to make way for pastures, and the amount of energy needed to produce the crops that feed the animals.

[Red Badger]

I’ll haveta ruminate on this for a while.............

[MrB]

So, the secular socialists don’t want us driving cars or eating meat,

and they’ve found another way to attempt to use the government to make us comply - global warming.

But then, we all knew this was the underlying reason for the hysteria in the first place.

[xcamel]

FReepmail me to get on or off
Click on POGW graphic for full GW rundown
Dr. John Ray's
GREENIE WATCH

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Eleventy-third rehash of this bovine flagellates..

[edcoil]

Do ants fart? There are a few billion people, a few hundred billion mammals hanging around but there must be billions and billions of ants.

I thing its the ants, not the cows. PETA just wants to blame beef -

[xljamz]

So can I just order the Big Kids’ Happy Meal instead of paying AlGore for my carbon footprint?

[capt. norm]

I’m going to have a big rare steak and know that I’m doing my part to decrease GHG’s. (So-called “Greenhouse Gases”)

[camle]

I do my part - I eat as many cows as I can. And pigs, and chickens...

[truthluva]

So will there be no more livestock if these crazies have their way/ What, we all have to become vegetarians? Will they do away with beans then?

[Carry_Okie]

Bison emissions, on the other hand, are praiseworthy and natural, superior in every way.

[wastedyears]

So shall we plug the rears of steers now?

[the_devils_advocate_666]

Wonder how much emissions in a dinosaur fart?

[Mogollon]

If the slight rise in temperature is due to greenhouse gases (C02, water vapor, methane) why does the very accurate temperatures taken by satellites show that there is a cooling trend in the trophosphere?

Also, the most abundant greenhouse gas is water vapor, not CO2.

[Thebaddog]

Jeez. these moon-bats can go from cow poop to deforestation to all things that fit their PC template in one article. The really ironic thing is that their entire template is based on erroneous assumptions. But they get an alternative universe of beliefs that counter the way things are.

[BigFinn]

Forget the cows... drive by the hyperium in El Segundo CA some time... talk about emissions...eeewww.

One of these days, it (which will probably be passed by some nitwit-liberal-greenie Calif. court or legislature ruling) will be unlawful to visit John, more than once a day for fear of gaseous emissions...

[RoadKingSE]

Seldom mentioned is that cows and other ruminants, such as sheep and goats U.S. Senators, are walking gas factories..

[Malone LaVeigh]

Do ants fart?

Actually, termites are supposed to be notorious methane producers:

[SnakeDoctor]

Then we cannot accurately say I’m not doing my part to combat global warming ...

I have structured my diet so that at least one cow per day is taken off this planet in the making of my dinner.

Tonight ... medium rare porterhouse.

H

[ridesthemiles]

National Geographic ways that TERMITES world-wide are the largest source of methane.
They are much smaller than a cow, but there are trillions and trillions of termites, and combined, they produce par more methane than bovines.

The LA TIMES cannot get much information straight, and most of them are probably vegetarians, so what is their true agenda here???

[p. henry]

Did the author of this article really say the threat from cows is "silent but deadly?"

Folks, life on earth is carbon based. Every living thing on this planet liberates carbon. Some things (trees in tropical rain forests and temperate evergreen forests, for example) are net consumers of atmospheric carbon, but most of the rest of us, be we humans, ants, meadowlarks or whales, are net contributors to atmospheric carbon.

One of the most offensive things about Kyoto fans is their conceit that our use of fossil fuels is statistically significant in the context of the carbon liberating biomass that we call Earth.