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Ruh-Roh

Mike

Well-known member
Cow 'emissions' more damaging to planet than CO2 from cars
By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor
Published: 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.
 

TimH

Well-known member
Quote-
"Cows also soak up vast amounts of water: it takes a staggering 990 litres of water to produce one litre of milk."

Sounds pretty "junk-science-esque" to me. I'd like to know how Geoffrey Lean(the author of this drivel) arrived at this figure.
I wonder how much water an enviro-whacko British "journalist" soaks up........let's see....... being a Brit, he probably doesn't shower or brush his teeth much....... :wink:
I wonder if he is aware that the paper that the Rag he works for is printed on, is made from trees. Trees soak up vast amounts of water. So do pulp mills which turn trees into paper..... Then there is all the fuel and energy used to get from "tree" to "newspaper", and all the chemicals and pollution that entails........ looks to me like Geoffrey Lean may be just as much of an environmental danger as any cow. :D :D

Where do you find this stuff, Mike??? :D
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
A United Nations report has identified the world's rapidly growing herds of cattle as the greatest threat to the climate, forests and wildlife.

This is what the UN does with the unlimited Billions $ we keep giving them-- or whatever they don't stuff in their own personal pockets.... :mad: :(
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
A United Nations report has identified the world's rapidly growing herds of cattle as the greatest threat to the climate, forests and wildlife.

This is what the UN does with the unlimited Billions $ we keep giving them-- or whatever they don't stuff in their own personal pockets.... :mad: :(

Actually, I'd have to say that the rapidly growing herds of humans would be the greatest threat to climate, forests, and wildlife, but then again I haven't done a multi-million dollar study on that.
 

Mike

Well-known member
Tim, Google "Livestock's Long Shadow" and see what you get.


THIS IS FROM A "UNITED NATIONS" PUBLICATION!

And we are letting them breath our precious air? :???: :mad:
 

TimH

Well-known member
Mike said:
Tim, Google "Livestock's Long Shadow" and see what you get.


THIS IS FROM A "UNITED NATIONS" PUBLICATION!

And we are letting them breath our precious air? :???: :mad:

I will later Mike. I googled... "staggering 990 litres of water to produce one litre of milk"...... before I posted the first time. I got ONE hit. It was a link to some British Rag called "The Independent", which published the exact same article as you posted.

This is one of the rare occasions I will agree with Oldtimer and others. The UN has strayed pretty far from the mandate it was given when it was formed. It needs to be cleaned up and re-directed or done away with.
Gotta go feed and water some cattle now..... I wonder if cows would eat shredded Socialist propaganda and drink Liberal crocodile tears......maybe then they would $hit happy-faces,piss Perrier water and fart pure oxygen. :D
 

DiamondSCattleCo

Well-known member
This was my response to that article (or another dose of drivel just like it):

Emissions Control - The Cowboy Way

We here at The Cowboy Way owe you city slickers an apology.

For years now, we've accused y'all of destroying the environment with your fuel hungry, CO2 producing SUVs and pick'em up trucks that never have a load in the back. According to the "Latest Scientific Evidence", it appears as though its actually our cows that are wreaking havoc upon the climate of good ol' Mother Earth.

And even further, apparently its a crying shame, as these emissions could be easily controlled or reduced to neglible levels.

So what can we do to help? We want to make amends for the destructive powers of our bovine buddies.

We see cow belches are a primary source of methane. Do we have to bring them in three times daily and brush their teeth? Will this help, or will it simply mask the methane smell and make the ranch smell Crest Winter Fresh all year round? Does anyone know if the makers of Crest would be willing to donate several thousand giant tubes of toothpaste, and a few hundred AA batteries for our electric toothbrushes?

Perhaps we need to talk to that Gene Simmons guy. Find out how he ignited the gas in his mouth, and install the gizmo on all our cows? Will burnt methane be as destructive to our fragile environment as raw methane? Maybe, however it would certainly lend a new credibility to the term 'rotten fire-breathing SOB of a cow'.

Well, perhaps we can't control the ozone destroying excretions from the front end of the cow, so maybe we should be turning to the backsides for our answers.

We don't know how many of you have worked with cattle, but working the backside of a cow is always frought with danger. So whatever we come up with for a solution must be safe for the poor cowboys who will be using the devices.

Perhaps a rubber balloon tied to the backside of the animal that collects the destructive farts? It wouldn't be too bad to install, as long as you had a good horse and rope. Make sure its large enough that it would only have to changed once a week or so. Then we could sell the collected methane to some cash strapped oil and gas company. Would we need licenses to sell the gas? Since oil and gas reserves under the top 6 inches of soil are considered mineral deposits, and as such, do not belong to the land owner, would we then need to buy "air rights" to the methane collected from the animals who reside _above_ the top 6 inches of soil? Since methane is obviously lighter than air, how much could we store in a balloon before good ol' #69 simply takes flight?

Guess our fences will need to be made higher. The neighbors would likely take offense to Freddy the Bull floating past their windows and peering in to see whats for supper.

He always seems a little more gassy than other critters on the ranch.

Or, if we find out that burnt methane isn't near as destructive to the environment, perhaps we could install the Gene Simmons device on the tail end of the cow too? Certainly be easier than changing balloons once a week. Pulling a calf in the spring would be a little more exciting though. Oh well, we really didn't need those eyebrows anyway. And on a cold day, a little heat during the calving process may help the little fella get a quick start.

Since our critters are chief causes of the apocalypse, we can't help but think that other animals are equally destructive. Take a bear for example. Many bears are every bit as large as one of our cows, especially polar bears. There are some real monsters up north. Shouldn't we be looking at controlling their farts as well?

Since it would be difficult to change the methane balloons on a wild bear, we suspect we'll have to jump to using the KISS device immediately (barring, of course, no protests from the knowledgeable scientific community about uncontrolled burning of methane gas). We're not sure how we'll get an igniter stuffed up the butt of a polar bear, but we're willing to give it go if someone else is willing to try and cram one down its throat.

Hmmmm, perhaps the Ignito-Cow device wouldn't be such a great idea for use on polar bears. If we have all these polar bears roaring around, spitting and excreting fire, wouldn't that increase the average temperature in NukTayYukTuk, perhaps increasing the rate that the polar ice caps are melting, causing even more destruction to an already beaten environment?

We're sorry y'all. We just can't think of a single way to make amends for the damage the Diamond S Cattle Co. has caused.

Perhaps one of these ultra-knowledgeable scientists would be able to help us out a bit? After all, 600 years ago, global warming wasn't even a twinkle in Merlin The Wizard's eye, even though there were literally MILLIONS more animals walking the face of the earth. Since todays scientists have been able to figure out that we're doing more damage with fewer animals, we're sure finding a way to control bovine emissions would be childs play to one of these rocket scientists.

Rod
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Nice one, Rod.


Tim, I appreciate you spreading the word, I stand behind it wholeheartedly. Hopefully, that will get us one step closer to COOL and ending captive supply - where the real money is made.
 
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