Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
Well Im very worried about gas. The poor cow has ambled her way into the headlines over her expulsion of gas. Well we all do it. Give a human a plate of baked beans, followed by a solid helping of brussel sprouts and ..ermm... better stand well back. Whoosh! Some near delinquent youths have been known, its true, to strike matches in the vicinity of this gas escape so that their friends can watch the pyrotechnic display. Not recommended in nice households! Not recommended in any households, for fear of immediate total and spontaneous combustion.
If humans accomplish this level of gas activity then think of the poor cow in the field. She has multiple stomachs, chews and digests green , very green, grass all day, and yes youve guessed it, has even more wind than ten humans. Those humans given to this kind of thing, wouldnt want to strike any matches in the midst of a large herd after a long days grazing on the uplands. The resulting fireball could be quite a blast.. especially for the guy who strikes the match, one thinks of scorched earth and vietnamese napalm.... Bang!
What's brought all this to mind? Well a guy on sensible R4 this morning spoke of the need to cut back on cows, cut back eating meat, cull the things even, as it seems they are producing too much methane. Well its getting rediculous now...this eternal Green quest. Animals have managed quite well on the planet up til now and the planet has managed very well with the animals.
The whole Green things is going bananas. Seen that advert on TV, one sheet of toilet paper for all, switch off all lights, switch off your red standby buttons. As if those small beer things will make any difference, while the larger nations USA, China, India, Russia, spew out nasty emissions quite liberally with no restraint.
So I say...leave the cows alone. Let them graze happily away forever, in green fields lit by slanting suns, for a planet without sights like that might not be worth saving anyway.
Guest 644- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,214
How ridiculous, if they are contributing to global warming it is probably only by a very small amount. 40 million bison roamed the great American plains when the first European settlers arrived, and there is no evidence that the methane they produced affected the climate. Not forgetting African mega-fauna and cattle elsewhere in the world. I'd be more concerned about the vast quantities of methane currently being released from the melting Siberian perma-frost and in the Arctic than cows, not that there is anything anyone can do about it.
A few years ago a French professor produced a theory that the dinosaurs may have poisoned themselves by releasing vast quantities of methane thus raising greenhouse gasses to a perilous levels by trapping Co2 in the atmosphere. His work has not exactly been accepted by the scientific comunity.
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
oh look jet cow,has anyone got an interview with the cow yet and where did it land.
Guest 663- Registered: 20 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,136
OH my poor cow
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
it looks like that cow could make that swiss bloke look a bit silly.
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
i dont think the idea would take off howard looks like the aerodynamics are wrong and out of porportion.
all I can say is it took a brave soul to ignite it
Ross Miller
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,695
the real reason for reducing reliance on meat is that
a) in South America huge swathes of biologically diverse rain forest are being cleared to graze cows
b) grain crops are being diverted from feeding people to feeding cows and pigs, an inefficient use of foodstuffs
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
10 October 2008
06:237283heres one one you forgot ross, bio fuels goverment sponserd of course.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
10 October 2008
07:187285Phil's explosive picture sums up exactly what I was trying to say about the methane problem. Dont strike any matches beside a cow near you today!
Ross makes a fair point there but on the grand scale of things, and in general terms, the poor ould cow in the field has grazed away merrily for a thousand years, has provided us with milk and meat and butter and added to the nice pictorial landscape. We are in danger of getting silly on the green issue. It's also becoming something of an unfortunate marketing tool. My company is greener than yours!..kind of thing.
Guest 645- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 4,463
10 October 2008
07:257286In comparison to industry,cars,energy emissions the poor old cow must come last.When the oil finally runs out and the car becomes defunct and industries collapse we will all be grateful for the cow that single handedly(or 4 footedly) can clothes us, feed us and quench our thirst.
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter)
Ross Miller- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,695
10 October 2008
21:077331Don't get me wrong I like cows and wouldn't want to get rid of them all, but the drive for cheap meat and the growing demand for "western eating" in eastern countries (most noticeably China) is causing a huge problem and in fact exacerbating forest clearance and food shortages
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
10 October 2008
21:387334i was told many years ago that it took 100 tonnes of grain to make 1 tonne of beef.
i do not know if this is still true.
Ross Miller- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,695
10 October 2008
22:027336Whilst it is not that bad, it is still bad - it takes approx 12kg of grain to make 1 kg of beef, for pork it is about 8:1 & chicken 3.4:1.
Also other interesting facts about meat production:
WATER: When compared pound for pound, animal production requires at least 100 times more water than grain.
LAND USE: Beef requires 31 times more land area than the equivalent quantity of grain.
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
13 October 2008
07:237403As we know there are beef herds and dairy herds. There was an interesting piece on Farming Today which said, to some shock and horror, that we are now importing 1million gallons of milk a day. Yes a day! The time is long gone it seems when we were self supporting...our daily milk, or a heck of a lot of it, now comes from Holland , Belgium and Northern Ireland. Requiring of course much use of the carbon footprint.
Returns are so low for the UK farmer in dairy production that many of them have called it a day to do something else. Dairy Cows down from 2.1m to 1.9m, sadly I neglected to get the timeslot for these figures but it may be in one year.
So the number of cows in the landscape may be reducing here in the UK but it makes no difference to the planet. They simply increase the number to compensate elsewhere. The simple reason being that we all consume massive amounts of milk ( and cheese and....)
Guest 675- Registered: 30 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,610
13 October 2008
12:397423Well if we need to get rid of cows I am prepared to do my bit. I'll light the barbie if someone lines them up.
Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong.
Richard Armour
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
13 October 2008
19:407432paul the reason that we are importing a million litres a day is that dairy farmers were so striped up by the major supermarket chains, that a large proportion just called it a day.
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
13 October 2008
21:587442are you udder the weather howard.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
13 October 2008
22:067444just the tail end of a cold brian.
Guest 641- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,335
14 October 2008
10:067466I'll steak me life on it
