Poor cattle! To encourage us to eat less meat, cows are accused of polluting the planet. They are thrown in the same bag as other thugs such as oil companies and mining industries. But if ruminants do emit greenhouse gases, it is not CO2. It’s the methane from the cows that’s the problem.
It’s true, cattle emit greenhouse gas during their digestion phase. Because of rumination, each animal releases, each year, the equivalent of a journey of 400 km by car. Their burps thus have dramatic consequences for the climate.
The methane from burping cows
The food (grass, cereals, etc.) absorbed by cattle passes through its rumen, which represents 90% of the volume of its stomach. This is where the digestion of cellulose generates methanea greenhouse gas even more harmful for global warming than CO2. And it’s not just roasts, cow droppings also release methane…
Scientists estimate that an adult animal thus produces an average of 125 kg of CO2 equivalent each year. However, it is estimated that there is a billion cows worldwide, 50% of which are located in two countries, India and Brazil.
The annual accounts are easy to do: 125 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Cattle breeding is therefore a big transmitter of greenhouse gases and is therefore partly responsible for global warming.
For comparison (and to put things in perspective), according to the estimates ofHellocarboeach French person emits on average 12 tons of CO2 equivalent per year, which is 100 times more than our unfortunate cow.
Cattle, these irresponsible!
In its latest report, the IPCC estimates that at the global level 10% of greenhouse gases come from agriculturehalf of which comes directly from the digestive system of cattle.
As if the picture of the situation were not gloomy enough, we blame the poor cows of all evils. However, they have nothing to do with it, they are content to exist and graze!
And because of this famous methane from cows, now they are being blamed for the considerable additional resources required for livestock production.
Livestock is indirectly responsible for part of the global deforestation. According to CAM70% of agricultural land in the Amazon region is used for livestock feed (especially soybean production).
Breeding indeed requires food resources that are hard to imagine. To produce one kilo of beef, it takes consume 14,000 liters of water and 20 kg of cereal. When we know that an animal weighs on average between 600 and 900 kg…
Moreover, the pollution linked to breeding does not stop there. The activity is also disastrous for the soil, because of the presence of nitrate in animal droppings. Nitrate becomes embedded in groundwater, then in rivers and the sea where the famous green algae can proliferate. Ask the Bretons what they think…
Read also:
The simple gesture that we can all do for the planet
The belching cow
7 ideas to limit food waste
The 5 R rule to limit your waste
The end of steak tartare?
When it comes down to it, animal husbandry for meat production is one of the most energy-demanding activities. Collectively, we must therefore agree to drastically reduce our meat consumption redwhich, mechanically, will lead to the reduction of cattle breeding.
But it’s just a step among others to fight global warming. Eating less meat and consuming fewer dairy products is a step in the right direction.
To conclude this topic, you will notice a troubling ethical question : it is the very existence of the animal and the survival of the species which are called into question because of the delirious exploitation that Man has made of it.