For years we have been told that cow burps produce methane which is responsible for global warming so stop eating meat!. The problem with this concept is that scientists are conflating methane with CO2 in error. CO2 is the primary cause of warming. I will make all this as simple and understandable as I can and I’ll post a very geeky video which explains this with citations. OK here goes.
Methane is emitted from cow burps...methane has a life span of 10 years and then it is converted to CO2 and is stored in the ground. CO2 is primarily released from industry like factories, cars, and other fossil fuel burners. This CO2 is released into the atmosphere and has a 1000 year life span. If cow herds are maintained at current size climate stability is maintained. Fossil fuel burners are continually feeding the atmosphere so the CO2 rises exponentially. This takes me back to Al Gores lectures on fossil fuels and the climate.
If there is an increase in cows then methane help to increase global warming so we need to be very careful to prevent this. To go a step further we can reduce the current effect of cow burps by covering lagoons on dairy farms and converting the entrapped methane to fuel that is more sustainable and ecologically healing rather than harming since this step will contribute to global cooling.
I am an advocate of regenerative ranching rather than factory farming and ranching. There are wonderful benefits. They are:
Improved soil health and fertility-using rotational grazing, cover crops and no tilling.
Increased carbon sequestration- rotational grazing and cover crops bolster the soil's organic matter which stores more carbon that is not released into the atmosphere.
Reduced input costs- by decreasing operating expenses, increasing efficiency and profits for the rancher.
Boosting health through enhanced biodiversity- rotational grazing contributes to balanced ecosystems and overall health of pastures, livestock and improved productivity. This safeguards natural resources.
Opportunities for soil carbon farming.-Carbon credits can be traded increasing profit margins.
Cattle welfare- utilizing sustainable ranching benefits cattle by giving them a more nutritious diet, less disease and stress and a stable habitat giving consistent forage availability
(http://maiagrazing.com)
Well there you go. Now you are armed with the science that dispels the myth of cow burps! The erroneous conflation of methane and CO2 seems to be enough to contribute to our mistrust of everything in the media. The answer is do your own research or read blogs like this one and watch the videos on this subject
Until then,
I am Happe to help...call me: 775 230-1507 or email me: mhappenow.happe@gmail.com
Be well,
Michele
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