According to a report issued today by environmental group EarthSave International, cars and power plants – the traditional targets of environmentalists – will not be a major cause of global warming in our lifetime. Rather, the most significant source of climate change over the next half-century is likely animal agriculture.
Because carbon dioxide makes up the majority of greenhouse gas emissions, environmentalists have focused on its main sources: cars and power plants. The report points out that other gases, produced in smaller amounts but far more powerful at trapping heat, actually cause the majority of the earth’s warming. Moreover, because the cars and power plants that emit carbon dioxide also emit climate-cooling aerosols, they are responsible for little to no net warming today.
The report’s data analysis, based on the work of leading climate scientists, shows that methane sources – not carbon dioxide sources – are the biggest cause of global warming today, and will continue to be for the next 50 years. The number one human-related source of methane worldwide is livestock, the report says. “This reveals an untapped opportunity to make serious and rapid progress in reducing dangerous global warming trends,” said Noam Mohr, author of the report.
The report strongly stresses that this is not the work of global warming skeptics, citing leading pro-environment climate scientists quoted by Al Gore and the Sierra Club, and a peer review by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The report provides global warming skeptics no excuse to let up on sources of carbon dioxide, as it remains in the atmosphere for centuries. Nevertheless, according to the data, methane will remain the primary offender in our lifetime, with animal agriculture its biggest source.
Also in the report:
Methane is 21 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. While carbon dioxide levels have risen by 31%, methane levels have more than doubled.
Animal agriculture produces more than 100 million tons of methane a year, about 85% from livestock digestion and 15% from manure “lagoons” used to store untreated feces.
Methane cycles out of the atmosphere in just 8 years, so reducing meat consumption quickly translates to cooling of the earth. In comparison, carbon dioxide can stay in the atmosphere for centuries.
Less consumption of animal products also means less water consumption, water pollution, air pollution, and even carbon dioxide emissions.
For an online copy of the report “A New Global Warming Strategy,” visit:
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