The game in town seems to be to bash the poor old ruminant for threatening the survival of the planet by belching methane into an overloaded and polluted atmosphere that is on the brink of total collapse under the weight of all this carbon. It is reported that carbon has reached the staggering proportion of 0.42 % of the atmosphere. The whole global warming theory is well documented and it revolves around carbon levels in the atmosphere increasing, causing the atmosphere to warm. I could spend the rest of my life shooting holes in this theory because there is so much wrong with it but for this article I will refrain from doing so, as hard as that is.
I will instead focus on the problems associated with the assumption that all methane emissions are the same and that they all result in an increase in carbon in the atmosphere. Agricultures emissions from belching livestock are quite different to the emissions from car exhaust and gas fired or coal burning power stations. The difference is that agricultural carbon emissions are sustainable and have no impact on the atmosphere because they do not result in an increase of carbon in the atmosphere whatsoever; where as the other sources of methane emissions do result in an increase to the carbon content of the atmosphere.
To demonstrate the difference I have devised the carbon quiz and invite you to have a go.
CARBON QUIZZ
Can You Spot the Difference?
How many differences did you get? (Circle appropriate response)
- Scenario 1 results in no increase in greenhouse gas in the atmosphere while scenario 2 does. Yes/no
- Cow methane emissions came from carbon and methane already in the atmosphere, while vehicle emissions came from oil under the ground. Yes/no
- Cow methane emissions are environmentally sustainable while vehicle emissions are not. Yes/no
- Cows are good for the planet while cars are bad. Yes/no
Analysis.
If you circled all four ‘yes’ then you have a bright future in store. You could be anything you like including rocket scientist, farmer or brain surgeon.
If you did not circle all four ‘yes’ then your future is quite bleak. You will be limited in what you can do. Options include; environmental scientist with the Ministry of Environment or Ministry of Agriculture(NZ only), any job with sustainability in the job description, senior manger for any organisation with sustainability in it’s name, General manager of any organisation with climate change in it’s name,
Prime Minister of a country (NZ only), Minister of Agriculture (NZ only), or if none of those work out you could be the Chairman of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Mark Shipman says
Awesome!
But Eco-criminal-nick-smith needs a sacrificial cow…perhaps he should start walking on all fours?
(lol)
Shona and Pieter says
Dear New Zealand Pastoral Farming Climate research Inc.,
If you call yourself a climate research institute maybe you should refresh your knowledge of basic chemistry.
The author minces words between methane emissions, carbon and carbon dioxide. Carbon is an atom, carbon dioxide is a gas molecule containing one carbon atom and methane is gas molecule containing also one carbon atom.
All methane emissions are the same, because it doesnt matter where the methane came from it will all act the same in the atmosphere, whether it is from petrol refining or from cows arses. It is technically incorrect that agricultural carbon emissions are sustainable and have no impact on the atmosphere.
There is one thing you say that is very true. There is a difference between emission based on a natural cycle and emissions through the burning of fossil fuels.
So it is true that when you tank petrol in your car, your adding carbon to the atmosphere in an irreversable way. It is true that cows consuming and belching is a reversible process which in itself does not add any carbon to our environment, but this does not take into account industrial scale farming which causes more methane to be produced than can be absorbed by nature.
Furthermore, it is scientifically proven that methane is a far worse greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, so this is an effect that needs to be taken into account when assessing greenhouse gasses.
The first diagram fails to take into account the clearing of animal and plant habitats that occurs when pasture is created and replacing wetland/forest ecosystems with monocultures.
Thus, the main message is, take your bicycle and eat veggies a few days in the week. It will probably improve your health, and if everybody does it, also the health of our planet!
Dawn says
Hi, Can I ask, how many members have joined so far? Thanks, Dawn