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Posted on 09/12/2007 7:49:38 PM PDT by JACKRUSSELL
(LONDON) - Eating less meat could help slow global warming by reducing the number of livestock and thereby decreasing the amount of methane flatulence from the animals, scientists said on Thursday.
In a special energy and health series of the medical journal The Lancet, experts said people should eat fewer steaks and hamburgers. Reducing global red meat consumption by 10 percent, they said, would cut the gases emitted by cows, sheep and goats that contribute to global warming.
"We are at a significant tipping point," said Geri Brewster, a nutritionist at Northern Westchester Hospital in New York, who was not connected to the study.
"If people knew that they were threatening the environment by eating more meat, they might think twice before ordering a burger," Brewster said.
Other ways of reducing greenhouse gases from farming practices, like feeding animals higher-quality grains, would only have a limited impact on cutting emissions. Gases from animals destined for dinner plates account for nearly a quarter of all emissions worldwide.
"That leaves reducing demand for meat as the only real option," said Dr. John Powles, a public health expert at Cambridge University, one of the study's authors.
The amount of meat eaten varies considerably worldwide. In developed countries, people typically eat about 224 grams per day. But in Africa, most people only get about 31 grams a day.
With demand for meat increasing worldwide, experts worry that this increased livestock production will mean more gases like methane and nitrous oxide heating up the atmosphere. In China, for instance, people are eating double the amount of meat they used to a decade ago.
Powles said that if the global average were 90 grams per day, that would prevent the levels of gases from speeding up climate change.
Eating less red meat would also improve health in general. Powles and his co-authors estimate that reducing meat consumption would reduce the numbers of people with heart disease and cancer. One study has estimated that the risk of colorectal cancer drops by about a third for every 100 grams of red meat that is cut out of your diet.
"As a society, we are overconsuming protein," Brewster said. "If we ate less red meat, it would also help stop the obesity epidemic."
Experts said that it would probably take decades to wane the public off of its meat-eating tendency. "We need to better understand the implications of our diet," said Dr. Maria Neira, director of director of the World Health Organization's department of public health and the environment.
"It is an interesting theory that needs to be further examined," she said. "But eating less meat could definitely be one way to reduce gas emissions and climate change."
If this be true - just think of the positive benefit of eliminating all Senators, Representatives and government employees.
genocide reduces climate change
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New!!: Dr. John Ray's
GREENIE WATCH
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Also, what these commies are taking out of the equation is that GOD is in control of the environment.
Can man damage it? Yes but it is ultimately in God’s hands!
That is SOOOOO ridiculous !!!!!!
Unlike CO2, Methane (cow farts) concentrations in the atmosphere have stabilized and are probably falling now.
It is okay to eat beef again.
All these “meat causes global warming” stories come from animal rights activists, vegetarians and, especially, from uninformed reporters.
Very good point!
Absolutely false. The less meat consumed the more pigs and cows will be walking around passing (methane) gas into the atmosphere, thus increasing global warming. Save the earth -- barbeque regularly.
I do hope that these people do not expect me to take them seriously.
The crapulence out of the mouths of fools never ceases to amaze me.
Actually if they are fearful of cow farts just give them beano.
Well, I’ll give you some credit. That’s how Inspector Clouseau would have pronounced it.
VS
Methane burns could reduce consumption of other natural gasses.
I like animals and there’s plenty of room for them.... right here next to the mashed potatoes.
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