In your opinion, will vegetarianism really help global warming?

Question

Yes or no? Please state why with specific reasons!

I. Global Warming and Carbon Dioxide
– Global temperatures are higher than they’ve ever been in at least the past millennium
– The environmental community focuses on abating carbon dioxide.
– Consumers should also focus on buying fuel-efficient cars and appliances, and minimize their use.
– Human activity produces vastly more CO2 than all other greenhouse gases put together.
– Greenhouse gases trap heat far more powerfully than CO2.
– Aerosols actually have a cooling effect on global temperatures.
- None- CO2 greenhouse gases are responsible for all the global warming.

II. Methane and Vegetarianism
– The most important non-CO2 greenhouse gas is methane, and the number one source of methane worldwide is animal agriculture.
– Microbial decay of organic matter in wetlands the primary source of methane.
– Global meat consumption has increased in the past 50 years.
– Arguably the best way to reduce global warming in our lifetimes is to reduce or eliminate our consumption of

animal products.

II. Advantages of Vegetarianism over CO2 Reduction
– A shift away from methane-emitting food sources is much easier than cutting carbon dioxide.
– Decreases in meat consumption would result in almost immediate drops in methane emissions.
– Vegetarian foods are readily available, and cuts in agricultural methane emissions are achievable at every meal.
– Reducing or eliminating meat consumption is something concerned citizens can do every day to help the planet.
– Less methane results in less tropospheric ozone.

methane can also be eliminated from the atmosphere in as little as EIGHT years, whereas CO2 can last there for a century.

Answer 1

It would probably help immensely because the rapid clearing of the Amazon rain forest has been happening in order to graze cattle for McDonald's. This clearcutting and burning is a huge disaster for the planet.

Even if people just rejected factory farmed meat and went with small local suppliers, this would help global warming. If we grew beef in labs, and so didn't burn down the forests, that would help global warming.

Answer 2

Possibly... cows are a major producer of the greenhouse gas Methane, and humans raise millions of cows for consumption... and if humans grew more plants then maybe they'd remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (another greenhouse gas), helping to cool the planet further.

But I personally doubt that it would make a noticable difference, and we should worry more about the burning of fossil fuels.

Plus, I love steak and hamburger.

Answer 3

No. There would be a greater need to transport food, vast areas of the world would be depopulated (hills and natural grasslands that are only suited to grazing), there would be ecological damage when such areas are ploughed (think of the dustbowl in the USA).

Veggies and vegans give the impression that they hold the moral high ground, but I'm afraid they are deluded.

Answer 4

Yes it might...but I would say that it would fight global poverty and starvation first. The transfer of energy from grass to grazer to primary consumer to secondary to consumer is a huge lose of energy for omnivorious species like ourselves. We could save a lot of food by eating more veggies and grains.

Answer 5

why would it? do you really believe the methane from bovine flatulence (cow farts)causes global warming?>that's poppycock.
How about the heat generated from billions of light bulbs burning?- I have never heard this referenced -but I believe it has to be the greatest cause of global warming----

Answer 6

This is not a homework answer site!!! You should take the time to read and look up the answers yourself and when you can't find a few answers you ask someone for assistance then! Don't rely on others to do YOUR work!

Answer 7

I don't believe vegetarianism would help global warming. After all, part of the problem are the ever vanishing green spaces of the earth. And vegetarians eat green things.

Answer 8

Yes. If people only eat vegetables and tofu, they'll be too weak and sickly to do manly things like burn fossil fuels and such.

Answer 9

if people stopped eating meat...yes I think it would help...less cows out there..but there would still be cows on dairies!! Don't think people are willing to give up their milk. I

Answer 10

don't forget the cabbage factor when you model the methane!