Cow 'emissions' more damaging to planet than CO2 from cars
 

By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor
Sunday, 10 December 2006
Meet the world's top destroyer of the environment. It is not the car, or the plane,or even George Bush: it is the cow.

A United Nations report has identified the world's rapidly growing herds of cattle as the greatest threat to the climate, forests and wildlife. And they are blamed for a host of other environmental crimes, from acid rain to the introduction of alien species, from producing deserts to creating dead zones in the oceans, from poisoning rivers and drinking water to destroying coral reefs.
The 400-page report by the Food and Agricultural Organisation, entitled Livestock's Long Shadow, also surveys the damage done by sheep, chickens, pigs and goats. But in almost every case, the world's 1.5 billion cattle are most to blame. Livestock are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.
Burning fuel to produce fertiliser to grow feed, to produce meat and to transport it - and clearing vegetation for grazing - produces 9 per cent of all emissions of carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas. And their wind and manure emit more than one third of emissions of another, methane, which warms the world 20 times faster than carbon dioxide.
Livestock also produces more than 100 other polluting gases, including more than two-thirds of the world's emissions of ammonia, one of the main causes of acid rain.
Ranching, the report adds, is "the major driver of deforestation" worldwide, and overgrazing is turning a fifth of all pastures and ranges into desert.Cows also soak up vast amounts of water: it takes a staggering 990 litres of water to produce one litre of milk.
Wastes from feedlots and fertilisers used to grow their feed overnourish water, causing weeds to choke all other life. And the pesticides, antibiotics and hormones used to treat them get into drinking water and endanger human health.
The pollution washes down to the sea, killing coral reefs and creating "dead zones" devoid of life. One is up to 21,000sqkm, in the Gulf of Mexico, where much of the waste from US beef production is carried down the Mississippi.
The report concludes that, unless drastic changes are made, the massive damage done by livestock will more than double by 2050, as demand for meat increases.
Interesting? Click here to explore further

You can also add cyclic solar events (sunspots) to the equation. There is a direct correlation between solar events and climatic changes on this planet. Methene gas from the wetlands is also an issue.

Undoubtedly we must monitor closely our impact on our planet, but much of the global warming argument put forward by the left is total nonsense, and has to do with them wanting a change to our economic structure and way of life and has nothing to do with a realistic scientific assesment of our planet's climate.

I think that finally more and more people are starting to see the GW issue for what it is....about time.

Your still in Stage One: Denial

See my other post:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=136106

:rotfl:

Does anyone else think its hilarious that the UN have studied Cow Farts?

They do bugger all else, so it doesnt suprise me per se..

Well someone had to do it. :D

Soooooooo, who want's to pull my finger? :shifty:

Solar activity is way overstated as a major cause of global warming.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environ...ng-456785.html

http://solar-center.stanford.edu/sun...glob-warm.html

http://www.universetoday.com/2008/02...lobal-warming/

http://arstechnica.com/journals/scie...arming-swindle

http://www.nowpublic.com/sun_does_no...rming_uk_study

Methinks you should maybe research that thought a little bit.

Hey, if you buy the GW nonsense that's fine with me. I will continue to treat it with the contempt it deserves. It's politically motivated nonsense.

http://solar-center.stanford.edu/sun...ot-co2.svg.png

The sun aye.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: :D :lol:

Denial - now that is funny!

Let me ask this question - what made this massive spike in global warming in the 1990's? Industry did quadruple overnight, so its complete BS with numbers manipulation written all over it. At least some people still have a brain left. I see some on this forum are lacking one however.

-S

If it's solar cycles, then why have we never seen this before?

Cyclical implies repetition. Current warming is considerably faster than anything we've seen before.

It ain't the sun.

The sun has an effect, of course. Just not that kind of effect.

Oh guys, it's not farts, cows belch methane.