Cattle Are Ruining The World

[knabe]

people are ruining the world.

now, you can trade carbon credits for not having a kid.  credit to pollute.  so sustainable.  people will become so intelligent that ending their germ line wil save the planet.  i wonder how many generations it takes to reach stasis at what population.

Professor Walters, clinical associate professor of obstetric medicine at the University of Western Australia and the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Perth, called for condoms and "greenhouse-friendly" services such as sterilisation procedures to earn carbon credits.

 

[knabe]

oops.


must        readjust        model       


https://news.yahoo.com/hundreds-methane-plumes-erupting-along-east-coast-170504645.html


mother nature needs to be scrubbed.


will she be buying or selling any credits?

 

[Lucky_P]

Several things...
Cow numbers in the USA are at their lowest since the 1950s...

As knabe indicated, cattle on a grain-based ration produce less methane than those grazing - but...cattle were designed to graze, consuming grasses/forbs that are essentially indigestible to monogastrics like humans - and most of that grass is growing on ground that is not suitable for crop production - due to slope/erodibility, soil type, limited rainfall, short 'growing season', etc.
But, if cattle don't graze and process the plant materials growing on that land, the vegetation still grows - and decomposes... releasing methane and carbon dioxide - or becoming fuel for a wildfire.

Water...California is in a long-term drought.  Had not seen this before, and I can't confirm that it's true, but the following article indicates that they use 48% of their water for 'environmental' purposes - keeping water levels up in rivers, etc., for specific species of fish; that's more than the 41% that has been previously designated for agricultural use. 
http://calwatchdog.com/2014/02/06/drought-wars-where-did-the-farm-water-go/

 

[knabe]

This court action resulted in taking water and money from farmers to keep an intermittently dry reach of the river perpetually wet.  Part of the problem of restoring the San Joaquin River for salmon runs is that engineers have to figure out how to run river water uphill during dry years.  The only way to do that is to send a massive gusher of water through the river that takes all future storage water with it.

Smart power