Lessons from the Pandemic and Actions that can Reduce Global Warming
Lessons from the Pandemic and Actions that can Reduce Global Warming
The Covid 19 pandemic has brought us much death and hardship but surprisingly one positive thing has occurred, the amount of many harmful greenhouse gasses being put into the atmosphere by mankind has reduced. This is the result of the decrease in air and land travel and the large number of factories that have closed or reduced their operating capacity.
This may have created an opportunity to make some much needed gains in reducing the amount of emissions and mitigate the effects of global warming on our lives. As we struggle with the anxiety of this pandemic it may do us all some good to direct our energy to the one good thing this pandemic has caused- a reduction in harmful emissions.
This begs the question of how each of us can help reduce
harmful emissions and thus, the rate of global warming.
In a discussion on the ways to reduce global warming, Bill Nye “The Science Guy” was asked which one we should do. He replied, “Everything.” Well if we can not do them all, what would be something an individual could do to have the most impact? In order to figure out what we as individuals can do requires we have a basic understanding of what the greenhouse gasses are and how each affects the atmosphere. So let’s take a look at this.
There are several gases in the atmosphere that are designated as greenhouse gases, GHG’s; those that trap heat. They let sunlight pass through the atmosphere, but they prevent a lot of the heat being generated by the earth’s surface from leaving the atmosphere. Of course, some of that heat is needed otherwise the planet would be so cold it would be uninhabitable! However, as we are seeing too much heat is also very bad.
• Carbon dioxide
• Methane
• Ozone
• Nitrous oxide
• Chlorofluorocarbons
Most naturally occur, but some are also produced by human
activity and it is those that we need to focus on. The lion’s share of man made global warming
comes from CO2 at 81%, and then Methane at 10% followed by Nitrous oxide 7 % and
Chlorofluorocarbons 3 %.
In order to compare the amount of greenhouse effect each type of gas contributes to global warming, a unit of measure was established called Carbon Dioxide Equivalent or CO2e. The unit represents the global warming of one metric ton of CO2 and its effect over a 100 year period. An equal amount of Methane gas produces on average 35 times as much global warming as carbon dioxide, so its CO2e would be 35. In other words, one unit of methane does thirty five times the damage of one unit of carbon dioxide. Nitrous oxide has a CO2e of 300.
The other important characteristic of GHGs is how long it remains active in the atmosphere, which is how long before it breaks down and no longer has a greenhouse effect.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) 100s of years
Methane (CH4) 12 years
Nitrous Oxide (N2O) 114 years
Hydrofluorocarbon-23 (CHF3) Chlorofluorocarbons 14,800
Methane, with a CO2e of 35, only stays in the atmosphere for 12 years. Therefore, it follows that the greatest reduction in greenhouse gasses, in the shortest time, would occur if we reduce the amount of methane produced by man-made activities. Once we slow down the amount going into the atmosphere, the existing amount will dissipate relatively quickly compared to the other gases. This would result in a reduction of the rate of global warming.
A good analogy can be found in this example: The street in front of my house is flooding. The
water is coming from two places; a river overflowing its banks and rain. The
river is putting water into the street 35 times faster than the rain. If I want a chance of stopping the water from
flooding my house I should try to stop the water coming from the river.
So what are the sources of methane that enter the atmosphere? They are decaying plant and animal matter, leaks from the production and transport of methane fuel, and animal agriculture. The drilling and transport of methane could certainly be made better by minimizing leaks, but that takes legislation to achieve. Passing legislation takes a lot of time and can not be achieved by any one individual. It is a good goal to work toward but not something that can make an immediate effect on reducing greenhouse gasses. There is also little that an individual can do to stop the thawing of the permafrost, which is releasing methane that was produced many years ago by decaying plants and animals or the current natural decay of plants and animals in our environment. However, there may be something that each individual can do to affect the source of methane from animal agriculture.
Or
What’s in a cow’s fart?
The key sources of methane in animal agriculture are the belching of methane from ruminant animals and the decomposition of their waste. Ruminant animals are those with multiple stomachs such as, cows, sheep, and goats. As part of their feeding process they belch up and release digestive gasses. Digestion alone produces 30 to 50 quarts of carbon dioxide and methane gas, per hour, per animal!
Tremendous quantities of farmland are also needed to support the meat and dairy industry for grazing or for the growing of feed. In developing nations land must be cleared of forests which if left intact would capture carbon dioxide. Furthermore, nitrogen fertilizers used to grow the feed puts nitrous oxides into the air which are almost 300 times more potent than CO2.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates about 14.5 % of greenhouse gasses or 7.1 gigatons of CO2 equivalent, can be attributed to the livestock sector annually. This is broadly equivalent to the emissions from all the fuel burned by all the world’s transport vehicles, including cars, trucks, trains, boats and airplanes! Cattle (raised for both beef and milk, as well as for inedible outputs like manure and draft power) are the animal species responsible for most of the 14.5 % of global warming generated, about 65% of the livestock sector’s emissions, or 4.6 gigatons of CO2e.
The percentage of each animal on a commodity-basis is as follows:
Beef 41 percent
Cattle milk 20 percent
Pig meat 9 percent
Buffalo milk and meat 8 percent
Chicken meat and eggs 8 percent
Small ruminant milk and meat 6 percent
Any one of us can have a direct impact on reducing the amount of methane from animal agriculture. All one needs to do is change their diet. Any reduction in the amount of animal food in your diet will have a direct effect on the animal agriculture business. As is the case with most businesses, supply is tied to demand. When demand goes down supply will have to be reduced. Raising fewer animals reduces all the industry’s sources of methane as well as the need for more forest clearing.
The climate scientists have given us less than 8 years to make significant reductions in greenhouse gasses to avoid catastrophic changes to the planet.
As Bill Nye stated, we need to do every type of greenhouse
gas mitigation activity, but if you want to start with a simple action just
reduce the amount of beef you eat. The more you change your diet from animal
based food to plant based food the bigger the reduction will be.
References
Comments
Post a Comment