Can Livestock Contribute to Anthropogenic Global Warming?

Question

or do they contribute to Bovinepogenic global warming?

Can animals really contribute to man made global warming?
Or is this just a case where "facts" can mean anything as long as you can get them to support your position and beliefs?

jim z - Exactly. Remember how many Buffalo used to roam the plains? They were on the verge of extinction because they were just so darn tasty.

We still have fewer cows in this country compared to buffalo just 150 years back.

Answer 1

BGW is a serious issue.

first off, i am the one here to destroy the earth. i'm part of the plague. the evil, non caring, stupid, selfish american.

i drive big american V8 cars. i ride dirt bikes and 4 wheel offroad, destroying ecosystems for my selfish pleasure.

now your saying one of nature's own beasts is competing with me?

i've heard of the SBD (silent but deadly) fart, and i always thought it was a childish joke.

NO!

it's not my buddy from third period, years ago, waiting for that sulphurous odor to reach the nearest person to induce an olefactory meltdown.

there is scientific fact now that they exsist.

the irefutable evidence all point to one source now.....




.... BUTTERCUP!

indeed, she is turnin' and burnin' the world into total climate chaos and taking my glory of earth destruction in the process!

Answer 2

If we still lived in some idealistic dream world where modern cows roam wild and graze in the same fashion that their Buffalo predecessors used to then no. Everyone goes on and on (and on) about "cow farts" and how stupid the global warming crowd is, but the truth is that this is just an overly simplified view of the situation that gets latched onto by those with juvenile minds. People who think farts are funny, and so its a stupid theory.

The environmental impact that real environmentalists are worried about in relation to livestock has very little to do with what comes out of their rear end.

The concern comes from the fact that livestock is no longer raised in any kind of a natural or efficient way.

First you have to raise corn. This is entirely petroleum based, both to make pesticides and to run tractors and power industrial water pumps to irrigate areas of the country not normally suited to agriculture.

Then you have to harvest and transport the corn to high density feedlots. Our transport system is entirely dependent on fossil fuels.

Then the livestock are grown, using questionable hormone supplements, as well as more food energy than the animal will ever produce in the form of meat.

Then the livestock are slaughtered in huge factories, and shipped all over the country/ world from centralized locations. All of which requires fossil fuel energy.

Every stage in the process requires huge amounts of land, water, and nonrenewable resources. It's not the animals, you see, it's what we do with them.

Global warming or no global warming, the raising of meat in our current system is an environmental and ethical blight on our culture. Any reduction in the amount of meat we consume, or increase in the quality of the way in which we produce it, would be of great benefit to the planet and the human species.

Answer 3

"Cow Farts: Global Warmers Or A Load Of Hot Air?

August 05 2005

Scientists and farmers around the world are debating a very serious subject at the moment. Cow farts. Yes, really, they're talking about farting cows. They're talking about cow burps as well, and sheep burps, and even sheep farts.

Why? Good question. Let's start with a look at the science behind wind.

Farts and burps are basically pockets of gas that get released from human and animal bodies.

Some gas is swallowed, like oxygen, when we eat or talk. Some of it is created inside our bodies as we digest food.

This gassy mixture isn't useful, so our bodies push it out and away as best they can... in burps and farts. Got it so far? Hope you're not giggling by the way, this is very serious science.

One of the gases found in farts and burps is called 'methane'. A certain amount of methane in the atmosphere is natural, and is a good thing. Along with other so-called 'greenhouse gases' methane collects in the sky and traps warm air around our planet.

Problems begin when the layer of greenhouse gases gets too thick and traps too much heat. This is called 'global warming'.

It's now a proven fact that our planet is warming up very quickly. And, most scientists agree that this is because of greenhouse gases, including methane. Which takes us back to our farting farm animals.

A scientific report published in California last week claimed that dairy cows in the area were producing almost 20 pounds (in weight, that's almost 10 kg) of gas every year, each. That's a huge, huge amount.

If that figure is accurate, it could mean that cow farts were causing more global warming than pollution from cars in that region, as millions of cows live there.

Trouble is, the local farmers don't believe the report. They reckon their cows are far less windy than that and are questioning the way the research was done.

Scientists around the world have known for years that animal wind could be a problem. What they can't agree on is how much of a problem. It's very difficult to measure just how much methane an animal is burping and farting out.

Even if scientists manage to measure the size of the farts or burps, they then have to work out how much methane they contain.

Another problem is that methane doesn't only come from windy animals. It's released when rubbish is processed for instance... which means more measuring and more debate.

So how would you do it? (Take a measurement we mean, not fart.)

Got any bright ideas? As you'll know from science lessons it's very important to take accurate measurements when you're running an experiment. Otherwise, other scientists won't take your results seriously.

How might you capture any released wind, without hurting the animals and whilst making sure the conditions were similar to their field?

Would you be able to tell if a cow was holding its farts in until you'd gone?

How would you make sure your sheep wasn't too shy to burp?
it may sound silly, but making test conditions natural is a problem scientists grapple with.
Shows a screenshot from a cartoon game, with a farting sheep standing by a road.

While you're thinking about it, you could have a go at Glasgow Science Centre's Climate Change Challenge (shown in their picture above) and spot the farty sheep?

If you do come up with any brainwaves to help farmers and scientists agree on the scale of their windy problem, why not use our Get In Touch page to tell us about it? Diagrams welcome too, and we'll publish the best on the site.

Back to being serious... funny though farts and burps can be, especially at certain moments in the schoolday, this is a real worry for farmers and scientists.

Global warming is a major problem, but we need our cows and sheep and they need to burp and fart. There's work going on to see if changing their food can make their farts and burps less potent - we'll keep you posted on that.

If you want to find out more about pollution, greenhouse gases or animals, why not visit your local science centre or natural history museum? Look in Places to Go for ideas.

One last thing - keep your fart-measuring inventions as theory only won't you? We don't want to hear about sheep or cows being chased around fields by over-keen Show Me surfers - farm animals like a quiet life.

Cow photos © 24 Hour Museum.

Anra Kennedy"

Answer 4

They are considered man made because humans raise them; they do not exist naturally or even reproduce naturally.

They are also not intrinsic to North America and are one of the many things that upset the natural ecosystem. I don't really understand why people had to kill off all the buffalo, a native species, and bring in hoardes of cattle. Buffalo would have been much more cost-effective to raise here since they possess natural immunity to many of the diseases and parasites we must spend money protecting the cattle from.

Answer 5

They can try, but when the world decides to get cool, history shows, it's pretty much gonna get colder than a witches (output location associated with the mammary gland).

Answer 6

Imagine how bad BGW would be if man weren't around to eat, err control the bovine population.

Answer 7

Livestock raised for human consumption are considered an anthropogenic source of greenhouse gas emissions since the livestock wouldn't be there in the first place if we didn't want to eat them. The livestock are born, bred, and raised solely for human consumption.

Answer 8

Obviously cows replaced other grazers that were somewhat equal to the bovine flatulence so obviously it can only be included in estimates that attempt to inflate man's contribution for motives that clearly aren't based on science.

Answer 9

no. because live stock contribute nothing at all to global warming. If anything animals farting and burping is natural.

Answer 10

yes livestock can affect global warming in fact one of the leading causes to global warming is the methane let of from cow farts.