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What’s the Latest Thinking ?

Discussion in 'News from the UK, Europe and the rest of the World' started by Anon220806, Jan 24, 2020.

  1. Anon220806
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    Anon220806 Well-Known Member

    Primarily aimed at Oss but anyone else’s opinion is welcome.

    What’s the latest thinking of cattle “emissions” on global warming? Is it zero unless the number of cattle on the planet increases? There seems to be a move across the globe to persuade us all to eat less meat as it is deemed to contribute to global warming (cow belches / burps etc).
    Anon220806, Jan 24, 2020
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  2. oss
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    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    I don't really know John, I've kind of given up.

    My general view is that earlier research and conclusions on cattle emissions probably make sense, there is also the point that calories and protein created from cattle and livestock in general is really not that efficient a way to create that resource, you are turning light into plant matter using huge tracts of land and then concentrating that resource into meat protein through animal processes that generate large amounts of methane and which does not provide that protein at a particularly affordable price to the vast majority of people on the planet.

    I don't know what the current models say but I expect they are probably pretty accurate, my guess would be that cattle are probably a continuing net contributor through the methane contribution, at least methane breaks down and does not persist in the atmosphere but it is at least 20 times more potent a greenhouse gas than CO2 and that makes any sustained proportion in the atmosphere dangerous.

    This weeks New Scientist carries an article about the number of people that can be sustained long term by current agricultural practices, I've read a bit of it, the headline number is about 3.4 billion less than half the current population but they think that changes in practice could support about 10.8 billion by 2050, it makes grim reading as it suggests that we could see the Malthusian catastrophe within the next 30 years.
    oss, Jan 24, 2020
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  3. Anon220806
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    Anon220806 Well-Known Member

    There is so much conflicting opinion around. I have been looking at stuff that suggests that cattle emissions are cyclical and do not add to or exacerbate global warming unless cattle population is increased.
    This sort of thing:

    https://www.smilingtreefarm.com/blog/carbon-mooooves


    But there seems to be no doubt that there are strong moves globally to get the world’s population to eat less meat. Those that eat meat are getting twitchy about this. :D
    Anon220806, Jan 24, 2020
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    • Agree Agree x 1
  4. oss
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    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    I'm a meat eater, I won't stop, but beef, pork and lamb are not a huge part of my diet, chicken has been a larger part of my diet for many years.

    Cattle need grassland, grassland leads to deforestation, it's more than just the methane.
    oss, Jan 24, 2020
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  5. Anon220806
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    Anon220806 Well-Known Member

    Okay.

    I just browsed New Scientist but of course there is a subscription. However I can buy a single copy...
    Anon220806, Jan 24, 2020
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  6. oss
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    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    oss, Jan 25, 2020
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    • Informative Informative x 1
  7. John Stevens
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    John Stevens Active Member


    No staple crops grow in the forests Indonesia cleared vast tracks of rain forest to grow palm oil.
    I read an article I'll see if I can find it again but the breakdown was roughly 26% of all emissions are from agriculture and rising and the break down from that was 60% was from meat farming and 40% was plant based.

    Pollution from agricultural will one day over take transport, overpopulation is the biggest cause of deforestation and the elephant in the room no one is willing to tackle.
    John Stevens, Jan 25, 2020
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  8. Anon220806
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    Anon220806 Well-Known Member

    Anon220806, Jan 25, 2020
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  9. oss
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    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    Might not be the one that had the article, the new issues are dated for Saturday but come out on a Thursday I wasn't even thinking what day of the week it was and the article or short News report might even have been from a previous week as I found it browsing the web site, I've got the Print and Web subscription but rarely read the Print version these days.

    The article is dated the 20th but it is the links on the online version that flesh it out and I've not read all the links yet.
    oss, Jan 25, 2020
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    • Informative Informative x 1
  10. John Stevens
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    John Stevens Active Member

    John Stevens, Jan 25, 2020
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