Thursday, September 13, 2007

Cattle Methane Production

The news is alive today with an report by some chap who has chosen to warn the world that the large global herd of cattle are on the way to distorting the global climate through the greenhouse effect of methane. I have already pointed out that this concern is at best rubbish in other posts and is like been concerned that the excessive production of rainfall will increase the sea level.

All methane departs for the vast ocean of the troposphere were it is vigorously consumed, well outside the working atmosphere. That any remains for any length of time at all is only due to strong continual point sources. The methane map over the oceans show an unchanging barrenness, which confirms the rapid rise of methane through the atmosphere.

I am growing rather weary of scientists acting like stock promoters hustling the new theory of the day. At least stock promoters make no claim to intellectual authority. Yes Virginia, I is a stock promoter in other lives and fully appreciate the application of nuanced presentation to keep the boys out of jail.

At least cows are not producing a like amount of CO2. An appropriate question to ask is if the original ecology maintained the same level of ruminants. This certainly was true on the buffalo commons of the great plains. It must have been also true in all of Asia and Europe. There are huge tracts there that would clearly benefit from the reintroduction of bison.

The reforestation of the Sahara will go hand in hand with the introduction of cattle to process and refertilize the ground cover that will be reestablishing itself. This will be the first major step in terra forming the earth as all hot dry lands are retimbered with the technical assist of atmospheric water harvesting.

Off course, I am quite sure that that fine gentleman also subscribes to the argument that the global population needs to be sharply reduced. At least his argument for the sharp reduction in cattle herds is leading there. None have yet shown the required leadership to show the rest of us the required method.

Readers may wish to go back and read my early posts on the use of atmospheric water recovery.

1 comment:

michaelangelica said...

from NZ at the IAI Conference at Terrigal this year that cows contribute 40% of New Zealand's green house gases (By burping not farting).
He said this was likely to be 20-30% in other more industrialised countries.

At the same conference Tim Flannery said that methane levels were dropping (for the past 8 years)
He said no-one knows why.

One suggestion was the drainng & drying out of swamps.