Posted on 04/08/2010 5:07:48 AM PDT by Gordon Greene
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, from Lord Stern to Sir Paul McCartney, 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 does not mean that producing livestock to eat is good for the environment in all countries. However 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 UK and US 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.
Dr 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...
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I find myself wishing for a massive volcanic eruption to occur to put these environazis in their place by showing them how little we can affect the environment.
Since 80% of natural methane comes from swamplands.
So the obvious thing to do is drain all the wetland to save the environment.
Nah... the end result is if the grass grows we have more greenhouse gas so the grass must die along with the cows, the cars, the people, the termites, and anything else living, breathing or moving. Sheer idiocy any way you cut it (pun intended).
Global Warming on Free Republic
IMHO, that was the result of the USSR's Venera 7 probe in 1970 measuring the surface temperature of Venus. Temps on Venus were high enough to melt lead.
Our scientists switched from New Ice Age to Catastrophic Global Warming very quickly, and AGW has been the touchstone ever since.
My wish came true! I think I will wish for a million $$ in the lottery.
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