As most of us know, cow burps add to global warming.
The problem is that the demand for cows and other livestock is soaring in developing nations. Producing nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, livestock production and distribution have a substantial impact on greenhouse gases (GHG). A 2013 FAO Report presented an overview of the problem and potential mitigation approaches. The graphs (below) from the FAO Report convey the global warming challenge.
My concern? Concentrated in the poorest regions of the world, emerging market farmers are likely to resist incentives to change livestock technology–even if those methods will be win/win–more productivity and GHG mitigation.
These are the animals that produce GHG:
And these are the regions of the world from which livestock related GHG will grow:
This is the Global Livestock Environment Assessment Model (GLEAM):
Sources and Resources: If you just look at the graphs, diagrams and papers and the Chapter summaries in the FAO report, an analytic framework for understanding the livestock emissions that affect global warming clearly emerge while this 2010 NY Times article on Australian methane problems complements the more general FAO report. Hat tip to Quartz for alerting me to the FAO paper.
