Faster horses
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I received this email and I'm posting it here.
Livestock Absolved of Causing Global Warming
Livestock could actually be good for the environment according to a
new study that found grazing cows or sheep can cut emissions of a
powerful greenhouse gas.
In the past, environmentalists have urged people to stop eating meat
because the methane produced by cattle causes global warming.
However a new study found that cattle grazed on the grasslands of
China actually reduce another greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide.
Authors of the paper, published in Nature, say the research shows
that in certain circumstances, it can be better for global warming to
let animals graze on grassland.
The research will reignite the argument over whether to eat red meat
after other studies suggested that grass fed cattle in the United
Kingdom and United States can also be good for the environment as
long as the animals are free range.
Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in
Germany, carried out the study in Inner Mongolia in China. He found
that grassland produced more nitrous oxide during the spring thaw
when sheep or cattle have not been grazing. This is because the
greenhouse gas, also known as laughing gas, is released by microbes
in the soil. When the grass is long snow settles keeping the microbes
warm and providing water, however, when the grass is cut short by
animals the ground freezes and the microbes die.
Butterbach-Bahl said the study overturned assumptions about grazing
goats and cattle.
"It's been generally assumed that if you increase livestock numbers
you get a rise in emissions of nitrous oxide. This is not the case,"
he said.
Estimated nitrous oxide emissions from temperate grasslands in places
like Inner Mongolia as well as vast swatches of the United States,
Canada, Russia and China account for up a third of the total amount
of the greenhouse gas produced every year. Nitrous oxide is the third
most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide and methane.
Livestock Absolved of Causing Global Warming
Livestock could actually be good for the environment according to a
new study that found grazing cows or sheep can cut emissions of a
powerful greenhouse gas.
In the past, environmentalists have urged people to stop eating meat
because the methane produced by cattle causes global warming.
However a new study found that cattle grazed on the grasslands of
China actually reduce another greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide.
Authors of the paper, published in Nature, say the research shows
that in certain circumstances, it can be better for global warming to
let animals graze on grassland.
The research will reignite the argument over whether to eat red meat
after other studies suggested that grass fed cattle in the United
Kingdom and United States can also be good for the environment as
long as the animals are free range.
Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in
Germany, carried out the study in Inner Mongolia in China. He found
that grassland produced more nitrous oxide during the spring thaw
when sheep or cattle have not been grazing. This is because the
greenhouse gas, also known as laughing gas, is released by microbes
in the soil. When the grass is long snow settles keeping the microbes
warm and providing water, however, when the grass is cut short by
animals the ground freezes and the microbes die.
Butterbach-Bahl said the study overturned assumptions about grazing
goats and cattle.
"It's been generally assumed that if you increase livestock numbers
you get a rise in emissions of nitrous oxide. This is not the case,"
he said.
Estimated nitrous oxide emissions from temperate grasslands in places
like Inner Mongolia as well as vast swatches of the United States,
Canada, Russia and China account for up a third of the total amount
of the greenhouse gas produced every year. Nitrous oxide is the third
most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide and methane.