EarthSave
International Report:
Sept.2005
Environmental
Community Focusing on Wrong
Activities
in Fighting
Climate Change
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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 a 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
Unionof Concerned Scientists.
The report
provides global warming skeptics no excuse to let
up on sources of carbon dioxide, however, as it
remains in the atmosphere for centuries.
Nevertheless, according to the data, methane will
remain the primary offender for the next
half-century, 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.
? The turnover
rate for farm animals is a year or two, while
turnover rates for cars and power plants can be
decades.
? Less
consumption of animal products also means less
water consumption, water pollution, air pollution,
and even carbon dioxide emissions.
The report calls
on environmental organizations to make vegetarian
advocacy a major part of their global warming
campaigns. "Anyone who cares about global warming
can start making a difference at every meal, simply
by leaving meat off their plates," said Mohr. "It
turns out that what's good for your health is also
good for the planet."
Download the
complete report at
http://www.earthsave.org/globalwarming.htm