Re: (Fwd) [asa] Cows, diet, and warming

Very good point. You need to look at the fluxes involved, sources and
sinks alike. For instance, CO2 source and sink fluxes used to be in
reasonable balance, causing atmospheric CO2 concentrations to remain
'constant', until us humans disrupted the balance and our influx of
CO2 could not be matched by sinks.

Imagine the following example of a sink where the inflow of water from
the faucet and the outflow match, causing the level of the water in
the sink to remain constant. Now start adding small amounts of water
and over time the water level in the sink will rise, even though the
addition of water is negligable compared to the inflow/outflow fluxes.

Pim

On 1/10/07, Kenneth Piers <Pier@calvin.edu> wrote:
> Friends: I am not an animal ecologist - only a lowly chemist- but I think this
> discussion about methane contributions from cows and termites and other
> creatures may be a bit of a red herring. Animal and microbial emissions of
> methane have always been part of global ecosystems long before humans were
> around and such contributions are part of the normal supply pathway of methane
> in natural ecosystems (there are, of course, also natural methane removal
> pathways in nature) undisturbed by humans. The question pertaining to animal
> contributions would become germane if it is true that the population of
> ruminant animals (or of termites) has vastly increased due to human actions. I
> don't know the answer to this question but only remember that, before there
> were many humans in North America, there were vast populations of bison roaming
> the plains who were also probably methane emitters. So the emissions of
> increasing emissions of methane we should be concerned about are those that
> arise from human activities. And certainly, if global warming leads to
> permafrost melting and this results in the release of vast amounts of methane
> now trapped in ice as clathrates in what are called methane hydrates, then we
> truly have something to be worried about. I will provide a link to a(perhaps
> slightly alarmist) paper I read about this possibility this morning.
> http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/Frontpage/2007/01/08/01291.html
> Such an event will likely put all the excess methane contributions from
> animals to the atmosphere to shame.
> ken piers
>
> Ken Piers
>
> "We are by nature creatures of faith, as perhaps all creatures are; we live by
> counting on things that cannot be proved. As creatures of faith, we must choose
> either to be religious or superstitious, to believe in things that cannot be
> proved or to believe in things that can be disproved."
> Wendell Berry
>
> >>> "Lawrence Johnston" <johnston@uidaho.edu> 1/9/2007 5:11 PM >>>
> Allan, I have also read that termites similarly produce methane, probably by
> synrgistic cellulose digesting bacteria. Does anyone have an estimate of
> how much of the greenhouse gases come from this source?
>
> Ho, every one who thirsts,
> come to the waters;
> and he who has no money,
> come, buy and eat!
> Come, buy wine and milk
> without money and without price.
> Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
> and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
> Isaiah 55:1 Revised Standard Translation
>
> ==========================================================
> Lawrence H. Johnston home: 917 E. 8th st.
> professor of physics, emeritus Moscow, Id 83843
> University of Idaho (208) 882-2765
> Fellow of the American Physical Society
> http://www.uidaho.edu/~johnston/ =========================
>
>
> ------- Forwarded message follows -------
> Date sent: Sat, 06 Jan 2007 19:51:11 -0500 (EST)
> From: SteamDoc@aol.com
> Subject: [asa] Cows, diet, and warming
> To: asa@calvin.edu
>
> Here's an attempt to inject something constructive and practical into our
> current discussion about global warming.
>
> It has been pointed out that methane from cattle plays a not-insignificant
> role in the human-caused increase in greenhouse gases. So, it makes sense
> that those of us Christians who care about stewardship of God's creation
> might
> at least consider this in making dietary choices. But one does not want to
> make knee-jerk changes without practical effect (especially since some of
> my
> wife's relatives make their living from cattle ranching ...). So, I have
> two
> questions where I hope somebody here can supply (or point to) some
> practical
> information that can inform our stewardship:
>
> 1) Is this methane emission issue unique to cattle? Or do other animals
> (pigs, chickens, etc.) also produce methane? If I eat pork or chicken
> instead
> of beef, will that reduce greenhouse gases, or not?
>
> 2) What is the relative importance of beef consumption to dairy consumption
> in this issue? Can I find a number for how much methane emission
> corresponds
> to one pound of beef, versus how much corresponds to a gallon of milk?
>
> Allan
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Dr. Allan H. Harvey, Boulder, Colorado | SteamDoc@aol.com
> "Any opinions expressed here are mine, and should not be
> attributed to my employer, my wife, or my cat"
>
> ------- End of forwarded message -------
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Received on Wed Jan 10 12:47:30 2007