Do Humans Fart More Methane Than Cows?
<p>Doyou breathe, burp or fart? If so, you’re contributing to climate change. Just like Dad, we point the finger at someone else — cows. <strong>Do cows deserve to be the pariahs of climate change? </strong>The answer is no. Humans are unequivocally at fault, but it is complicated.</p>
<p>If you’ve heard of methane, you probably read about burping cows. Unlike most other animals, ruminants like cows, sheep, and goats produce methane in their stomachs in the process of digestion. Enteric methane production is then released through flatulence, excrement, but mostly belching. Cows produce 250 to 500 L of methane <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jas/article-abstract/73/8/2483/4632901" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">per day</a>. Collectively, the earth’s 1.5 billion cows emit 120 million metric tons <a href="https://blogs.nicholas.duke.edu/citizenscientist/silent-but-deadly/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">per year</a>, responsible for roughly 2% of climate change. That’s just a small part of how cattle propagation contributes to climate change (setting aside land use, water use, and nutrient efficiency).</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/climate-conscious/do-humans-fart-more-methane-than-cows-a0f48c590fb0"><strong>Read More</strong></a></p>