<div> </div>
<div>Megan et. al.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Thanks for your UN FAO source on the figures for livestock impacts on global warming gases. My searches on this subject did not discover this source.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>First, let me state I would be happy to find the human race switching from animal food sources to other forms of nutrition. I agree that the animal food industry has serious negative impacts on the environment, and is often a wasteful inefficient means of food production in a world of 6 billion and counting, with plant based foods a more efficient and often healthier alternative. Not to mention being often cruel to the animals, which I find particularly objectionable. I have eaten a totally non animal product diet and been as healthy as a horse, though lately I have been eating some animal products, trying to avoid this as a staple for my diet.
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>However, given the misinformation and propaganda that gets tossed around regarding global warming, which I regard as a very serious threat to planetary ecosystems and the survival of millions of human beings, I think it is important to stay within the bounds of referenced scientific data when discussing this subject. The global warming skeptics who wish to spread misinformation on global warming count on the public not doing the research necessary to discover the junk science they promote. Climate science is a very complicated subject, and it is easy to use figures and statistics juggled this way and that to come up with the conclusions sought.
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>It appears there is a significant disagreement regarding methane releases and other greenhouse gases, and their total impact on global warming, related to livestock, from credible scientific sources. I quoted numerous sources referencing scientific studies that cast doubt on some of the claims in the UN FAO article. If you read objectively through the sources I quoted, they should raise doubts.
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>For example, the World Resources Insitute article I quoted on global transport claims that transport is over 18 percent of CO2 impacts on global warming, and the highest estimates of the GWP (global warming potential) from human sourced methane I could find was 18 percent, of which only a fraction can come from livestock, if you view the information from the Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research. Note the NASA article on methane releases from rice paddies, asserting 8 percent of human methane releases are or were from this source alone. I quoted another source that listed rice paddies along with livestock as significant sources of human related methane releases. There are numerous other human related significant sources of methane release from fossil fuel related activities, landfills, waste treatment and disposal (how many people realize that human waste and its treatment and disposal releases large amounts of methane, with a human population over 6 billion and counting?), etc. The chart on methane referenced from the Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research, listing percentages of the methane coming from various human sources, contradicts the claim from the FAO that livestock accounts for 37 percent of human related methane releases. The National Energy Information Center source I offered providing data on the USA's human sourced methane releases gave a figure of 9 percent of greenhouse gases from methane domestically.
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Also, I referenced a Nature article that analyzed the GWP of methane and found that, when considering all factors, such as methane's 12 year atmospheric lifespan before dissipating in the atmosphere, compared to CO2s 100 year plus lifespan, methane has
3.7 times more GWP than CO2 per mole. This casts serious doubt on the FAO article's assertion that methane is 23 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2, a figure you often hear tossed around without full understanding of the facts of climate science.
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I could go on, but...who is readying this dry prose, anyway?</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Given disagreements of this magnitude on a difficult scientific issue, I'm going to withhold judgement on the data regarding the impacts of livestock on global warming, while agreeing that the livestock industry is environmentally unsound for a number of reasons, and does contribute significantly to global warming gases, in part from land use impacts, burning forests for cow pasture, etc.
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I long ago quit eating beef almost entirely in part because of the clearing and burning of forests to make way for cattle...even in the Brazilian rain forest!</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I need to fully study in total the IPCC latest report on climate change. It may offer the latest data on livestock impacts on climate change, along with every other known climate change variable.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Ted Moffett<br><br> </div>
<div><span class="gmail_quote">On 3/12/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">Megan Prusynski</b> <<a href="mailto:megan@meganpru.com">megan@meganpru.com</a>> wrote:</span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">
<div style="WORD-WRAP: break-word">
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">This is just a guess (since I'm not Nick), but perhaps the statistics on livestock contributing more to global warming than all transportation combined came from this UN's Food and Agriculture Organization report:
<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html</a></div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Here's a quote from the above article: </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">"Which causes more greenhouse gas emissions, rearing cattle or driving cars? </div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 13px; MARGIN: 0px"><font face="Helvetica"><br></font></div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Surprise! </div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 13px; MARGIN: 0px"><font face="Helvetica"><br></font></div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">According to a new report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent - 18 percent - than transport. It is also a major source of land and water degradation."
</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Looks like going vegetarian has more positive impact on global warming than getting a hybrid. :) PETA has written a letter to Al Gore asking if he'd consider going veg (and offering to make him some fine vegan cookin') in order to reduce his impact on global warming and set an example. We'll see if he responds. Here's the article on that from PETA's blog:
<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://blog.peta.org/archives/2007/03/clearing_a_few.php" target="_blank">http://blog.peta.org/archives/2007/03/clearing_a_few.php</a></div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">If anyone needs vegetarian recipes or tips, I have plenty to share. ;)</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">peace,</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">~Megan</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">-----------------------------</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Message: 5</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2007 06:15:49 -0800</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">From: "Ted Moffett" <<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:starbliss@gmail.com" target="_blank">starbliss@gmail.com</a>></div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Ed the Viking, Greenland, and Global Warming</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">To: "<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:nickgier@adelphia.net" target="_blank">nickgier@adelphia.net</a>" <<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:nickgier@adelphia.net" target="_blank">
nickgier@adelphia.net</a>></div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Cc: <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com" target="_blank">vision2020@moscow.com</a></div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Message-ID:</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px"><span style="WHITE-SPACE: pre"></span><<a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="mailto:d03f69e0703120715m64f1f228gbab37b0b7ea418f3@mail.gmail.com" target="_blank">d03f69e0703120715m64f1f228gbab37b0b7ea418f3@mail.gmail.com
</a>></div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Nick wrote:</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div><br>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Regarding livestock and global warming, they contribute, by expelling</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">methane, 18 percent of all greenhouse gases, more than all world transport</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">combined. In developing countries raising cattle also requires burning</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">forests, which overall contributes another 18 percent of greenhouse gases.</div><br></blockquote>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Can you provide scientific references for the data you offer above? I am</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">finding documentation of this data difficult.</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Methane releases from livestock do not add up to 18 percent of greenhouse</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">gases from human activity or 18 percent of the human sourced greenhouse</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">effect, given the sources I've read.</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">A source listed below gives methane releases in the USA, many from non</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">agricultural sources (landfills, coal mines, oil and gas operations) as 9</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">percent of total human sourced greenhouse gases. The amount from livestock</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">would be a fraction of this amount.</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">The GWP (global warming potential) would need to be considered, given that</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">methane is a more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2, though it dissipates in</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">the atmosphere much faster. I wonder if this 9 percent figure is corrected</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">for GWP. Of course this is only data for the USA, so global percentages of</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">methane release could be very different:</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px"><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/ggccebro/chapter1.html" target="_blank">http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/ggccebro/chapter1.html</a>
</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">According to this source below, significant methane releases are associated</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">with the huge increase in rice cultivation (anaerobic decomposition in</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">paddies):</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px"><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www-das.uwyo.edu/~geerts/cwx/notes/chap01/co2_change.html" target="_blank">http://www-das.uwyo.edu/~geerts/cwx/notes/chap01/co2_change.html
</a></div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">NASA article claiming rice cultivation adds 8 percent of total global</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">methane releases, or it did till recent changes, much of this coming from</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">China:</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px"><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2002/1204paddies.html" target="_blank">http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2002/1204paddies.html</a>
</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">This source below (asserting CO2 is 80 percent of the human sourced</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">greenhouse effect) combined with other data I've read on the percentages of</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">atmospheric concentration of other greenhouse gases, suggests methane from</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">all human impacts contributes about 10 percent of the current human sourced</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">greenhouse effect, allowing for GWP. Even if this figure is in error, I</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">doubt that just the methane from livestock will equal 18 percent of the</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">human sourced greenhouse effect, given the percentage influence of CO2,</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, CFCs, etc. and methane from other sources:</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px"><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v344/n6266/abs/344529a0.html" target="_blank">http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v344/n6266/abs/344529a0.html
</a></div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Another source below gives a figure for methane's GWP over the next hundred</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">years as 18 percent of the total human impact, but the amount of methane</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">from fossil fuel related and waste treatment and disposal sources is a large</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">percentage of this total. Consider that even if methane contributes 18</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">percent to the GWP, in absolute amount of percentage of release it is at</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">a much smaller level, because it is a more powerful greenhouse gas than the</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">dominant greenhouse gas from human sources, CO2. This source is data from</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">2000, and fossil fuel use has increased dramatically in the past 6 years,</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">thus the 14 percent figure for the transportation sector is now in error:</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px"><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Greenhouse_Gas_by_Sector.png" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Greenhouse_Gas_by_Sector.png
</a></div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">As far as burning of forests contributing 18 percent of atmospheric CO2 from</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">human impacts, I cannot verify this figure either. The source above gives a</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">figure of 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions for land use and biomass</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">burning, which should include forest burning impacts. This source below</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">gives a figure from burning of forests and deforestation of 7-10 percent of</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">the CO2 emissions from fossil fuels:</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px"><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/pr/2004/biomass-812.html" target="_blank">http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/pr/2004/biomass-812.html
</a></div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Quote from article above:</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Of forest burning, about 80 percent results in permanent deforestation -</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">meaning the land is now used for some other use, such as grazing,</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">agriculture or buildings. The remaining 20 percent of trees are regrown.</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">When forests are permanently replaced by other plant types - shrubs,</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">grasses, crops, all of which contain less carbon than do trees - the carbon</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">difference accumulates in the atmosphere. "The total carbon dioxide emission</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">from permanent deforestation is on the order of 7 to 10 percent of global</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">fossil-fuel-carbon-dioxide emission," Jacobson says.</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Jacobson's calculations used a model honed over 14 years and emission data</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">from a variety of sources. He is an author of two textbooks - Fundamentals</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">of Atmospheric Modeling (Cambridge University Press, 1999) and Atmospheric</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Pollution: History, Science, and Regulation (Cambridge University Press,</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">2002).</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">------</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">Given these estimates of methane releases from livestock in absolute</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">amounts, and in terms of the GWP of these methane releases, methane from</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">livestock does not equal the amount of CO2 from the transport sector, which</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">according to the source below contributes over 18 percent of global human</div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px">sourced CO2 emissions, nor does it equal this CO2s GWP.</div>
<div style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><br> </div>
<div style="MARGIN: 0px"><a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" href="http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/135" target="_blank">http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/135</a></div>
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