Yes, Cows Do Contribute To Climate Change.
Despite What Conservatives Say, It's Not "Fake News." It's Not Even "Woke." It's Just True.
We should clarify a few things, as I can already feel the conservative brows twitching.
This is not a “declaration of war” against cattle, as you might hear on Fox News. It is just acknowledgement of an issue that exists, in which we should work to mitigate.
And when it comes to the environment, it’s always worth it.
Cows actually contribute to climate change in a couple of ways, compounding the effect they have. The main way people bring up, usually in jest, is through burping. However, this is actually more than accurate.
Cows are ruminant animals, which just means they gain nutrients through fermenting plants in a specialized stomach called the “Rumen.” Once broken down into “cud,” it is chewed again and digested in a process known as rumination.
In a cow’s stomach are microbes, or microorganisms, which generate energy to their cells through what is known as anaerobic respiration. This requires another process called methanogenesis, which has relevance here as it creates methane.
This means the release of methane is a natural byproduct of cattle, and that release is disproportionate compared to other livestock. A 2022 paper in Atmosphere found that in comparison to other livestock, cattle overwhelmingly make up the methane emissions. Stating:
The GLEAM results indicate that emissions from livestock supply chains consist of 50% methane (CH4), 24% nitrous oxide (N2O), and 26% carbon dioxide (CO2), with emissions. In terms of species, cattle are the major contributor, with about 62% of total livestock emissions. Other species (hogs, poultry, buffaloes, and small ruminants) each represent between 7 and 11% of the sector’s emissions.
These emissions are important to balance because of Radiative Forcing. Radiative Forcing is what happens when the amount of energy entering our atmosphere is different than what leaves it. A surplus causes warming, a deficit causes cooling.
So we have a sort of delicate dance of balancing greenhouse gas emissions with what our atmosphere can handle, and we’re experiencing rapid increases of methane.
This contributes massively to the global warming(The warming effects of methane are 86 times stronger than carbon dioxide) we are experiencing, which comes with its own long list of negative effects.
Studies have found from the industrial revolution until 2011, Methane emissions increased over 100% by just 2011. Methane has the same global warming potential of 25 metric tons of Carbon Dioxide emissions.
The other end of this is actually through cows manure, which also contributes both nitrous oxide, and methane itself. It is estimated this could make up as much as 25% of the emissions from the farm level. Making it no less important, while often overlooked.
There are solutions to mitigate these effects, but the first step is acknowledging they exist.Various dietary changes have been linked to a reduction in methane emissions, as well as some long term strategies centered around breeding.
On the manure side, there are additives and other strategies as well. But again, nothing changes until we can admit the truth. And stop politicizing science.
It isn’t “woke” to say cows contribute to climate change, it’s a scientific fact.