|
Share with your favorite networking site |
If you've read our
Going Green 101 Guide,
you would know that one of the chief causes of global warming gases like
methane (40% to be exact) is animal agriculture, with the primary culprit
being cattle (no fault of the cattle, of course - just a culture addicted to
too much meat).
To be more precise, it is the gases (i.e., farts and burps)
that cows let out which are "indirectly" responsible for excesses of Carbon
Dioxide and Methane (Methane is 23 times more effective in trapping heat -
the greenhouse effect - than Carbon Dioxide) in the atmosphere.
Well, now
that we know global warming is a serious problem - the solution of which is
in our own hands - scientists are beginning to take a closer look at the
correlation of global warming and animal agriculture.
In Argentina,
scientists have begun strapping plastic tanks to the backs of cows, so as to
collect their burps and determine just how much methane is being emitted
into the atmosphere. Figures have already started to come in - and let's
just say it's shocking and not shocking at the same time.
A cow weighing
little over 1,200 pound was found to produce 800 to 1,000 liters of
emissions every day. That approximates into 30% of Argentina's greenhouse
gas emissions.
Considering that Argentina is one of the world's largest
producers of beef (approximately 55 million heads of cattle graze the Pampas
grasslands), you would hope this research would prompt a cutback in cattle
consumption.
On the contrary, scientists are
using the data to create new diets for cows that will convert into lower amounts
of methane gas. At least it's a start, right?
NEWS
BLOG
AROMA
Eco
Green
HOME
Green
Clean
HOME
Health
HERBS
HOLISTIC
Natural
Green
Organic
Organic
Personal
Natural
INCENSE
VITAMIN
YOGA