Just Wondering...???

[Ol'Hickster]

Yea another one of my stupid questions but I heard today that amounts of methane produced from Cattle shit is more than cars so cattle shit is worse for the ozone rather than cars?

[Basher]

Vegetarian argument #1.

[boiler]

Also, meat eater argument #1, gotta keepm the cow population down

[bradm]

I heard today that amounts of methane produced from Cattle shit is more than cars ?

That's actually true, because cars don't produce methane.

so cattle shit is worse for the ozone rather than cars?

According to

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_176.html

It's believed 18 percent of the greenhouse effect is caused by methane, putting it second on the list of offending gases behind carbon dioxide.

OK, The Straight Dope may not be the best source for up-to-date environmental info, but it gets across the key point: while methane (as produced by, among other sources, cows) is an important greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide is more important, and cars, power plants, and other industrial processes are the biggest sources of it. (As well, you [as well as the person who asked that SD question] confuse damage to the ozone layer [which neither methane nor carbon dioxide are responsible for] and production of greenhouse gases.)

Aloha,

Brad

Edited January 6, 2008 by Guest

[Ol'Hickster]

Thanks Brad !

[Biggest Fan]

Brad comes through. Thanks

[timouse]

I heard today that amounts of methane produced from Cattle shit is more than cars ?

That's actually true' date=' because cars don't produce methane.

so cattle shit is worse for the ozone rather than cars?

According to

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_176.html

It's believed 18 percent of the greenhouse effect is caused by methane, putting it second on the list of offending gases behind carbon dioxide.

OK, The Straight Dope may not be the best source for up-to-date environmental info, but it gets across the key point: while methane (as produced by, among other sources, cows) is an important greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide is more important, and cars, power plants, and other industrial processes are the biggest sources of it. (As well, you [as well as the person who asked that SD question] confuse damage to the ozone layer [which neither methane nor carbon dioxide are responsible for] and production of greenhouse gases.)

Aloha,

Brad

in addition, methane is a mch bigger problem with feedlot cattle, not so much with cows on pasture. feedlot cattle eat a mix of corn and other grains that their digestive system is not adapted to handle...as a result, most cows are suffering from indigestion and releasing surprising amounts of methane.

pastured cattle on the other hand are eating the diet that their system was designed for, and are producing negligible amounts of methane.

interestingly, E. coli 0157-H7, a particularly virulent (to humans) strain of ruminant bacteria, thrive in the high acid environment of a grain fed cow's stomachs, and thanks to the medieval sanitation in a feedlot, they really thrive.

pastured beef rocks.

Edited January 7, 2008 by Guest