WEBVTT - Do Cows Really Pollute As Much As Cars?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff Lauren Vogelbaum. Here,

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<v Speaker 1>agriculture is responsible for an estimated seventeen percent of the

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<v Speaker 1>world's greenhouse gas emissions, and within the category of agriculture,

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<v Speaker 1>cattle produced the most greenhouse gases, and it's because of burbs.

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<v Speaker 1>Cattle emit a massive amount of methane through belching, with

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<v Speaker 1>a lesser amount through flatulence. Statistics vary regarding exactly how

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<v Speaker 1>much on average, as some experts say it's some one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred to two hundred liters per day, while others say

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<v Speaker 1>it's up to five hundred. In any case, that is

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of methane, an amount comparable to the pollution

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<v Speaker 1>produced by a car in a day. On a global scale,

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<v Speaker 1>these methane emissions are about as much of a problem

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<v Speaker 1>as emissions from the oil and gas industry at large,

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<v Speaker 1>and the problem is expected to increase. A demand for

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<v Speaker 1>meat and milk is growing as the human population grows

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<v Speaker 1>and as more populations around the world are becoming able

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<v Speaker 1>to afford it. Methane is relatively short lived in our atmosphere.

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<v Speaker 1>It only sticks around for about twelve years, as opposed

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<v Speaker 1>to the hundreds or thousands that carbon dioxide can last,

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<v Speaker 1>but methane's effects are much more powerful. Its contribution to

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<v Speaker 1>global warming is about twenty eight times out of carbon

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<v Speaker 1>dioxide while it lasts. This is part of why some

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<v Speaker 1>climate activists and scientists are urging people who have a

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<v Speaker 1>choice in their diet to choose less beef so that

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<v Speaker 1>the world will keep fewer cattle and decrease those emissions.

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<v Speaker 1>But okay, let's talk about why cattle produces so much methane. Cows, goats, sheep,

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<v Speaker 1>and several other animals belong to a class of creatures

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<v Speaker 1>called ruminants. Ruminants have four stomachs, and they digest their

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<v Speaker 1>food in those stomachs instead of intestines as humans do.

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<v Speaker 1>A ruminants eat food, regurgitate it as cud, and then

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<v Speaker 1>chew and swallow it again. The stomachs are filled with

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<v Speaker 1>bacteria and other microbes that aid in digestion, but those

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<v Speaker 1>microbes also produce methane. The same process happens in humans too,

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<v Speaker 1>albeit on a smaller scale. When we fart, we are

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<v Speaker 1>in fact passing our microbes farts out. Life is wondrous,

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<v Speaker 1>But okay, this became a problem with the development of

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<v Speaker 1>large scale agriculture. In the mid twentieth century, when farming

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<v Speaker 1>became a big business for some companies, farms became consolidated

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<v Speaker 1>into large enterprises with many thousands of animals across large acreage.

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<v Speaker 1>Before then, grazing areas were filled with a variety of

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<v Speaker 1>grasses and flowers that grew naturally, offering a diverse diet

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<v Speaker 1>for cows and other ruminants. However, in order to improve

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<v Speaker 1>the efficiency of feeding livestock, many of these pastures became

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<v Speaker 1>re seeded with perennial rye grass with the aid of

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<v Speaker 1>art fertilizers. Perennial rye grass grows quickly and in huge quantities.

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<v Speaker 1>The downside is that it lacks the nutritious content of

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<v Speaker 1>other grasses and prevents more nutritious plants from growing. It's

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<v Speaker 1>been called the fast food of grass. This simple diet

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<v Speaker 1>allows many cows to be fed, but it inhibits digestion.

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<v Speaker 1>This is where the methane comes in. The difficult to

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<v Speaker 1>digest grass ferments in the cow's stomachs, where it interacts

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<v Speaker 1>with microbes and produces gas. Research into how to improve

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<v Speaker 1>the situation has been going on for at least twenty years.

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<v Speaker 1>There are lots of ideas out there, such as breeding

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<v Speaker 1>and feeding beef cattles that they produce more meat, thus

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<v Speaker 1>reducing the number of cattle needed to meat meat demand.

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<v Speaker 1>This thing goes for improving milk production in dairy cows.

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<v Speaker 1>There are also efforts to alter cattle's diet so that

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<v Speaker 1>they produce less gas in the first place. For example,

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<v Speaker 1>a team of resecar in Germany created a pill to

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<v Speaker 1>trap gas and a cow's rumen its first stomach and

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<v Speaker 1>convert the methane into glucose. However, the pill requires a

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<v Speaker 1>strict diet and structured feeding times, which don't lend themselves

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<v Speaker 1>well to grazing. Other experiments have tried supplements like garlic

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<v Speaker 1>or garlic extracts, the idea being that garlic contains compounds

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<v Speaker 1>that can kill off some of the microbes that produce methane.

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<v Speaker 1>It works, though with variable amounts of success, and don't worry,

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<v Speaker 1>it doesn't make their milk taste like garlic. A Seaweed

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<v Speaker 1>is also under investigation as a dietary supplement. A one

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<v Speaker 1>study out of UC Davis found that replacing just one

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<v Speaker 1>percent of cattle's normal diet with seaweed led to a

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<v Speaker 1>sixty percent decrease in methane production. Of course, growing enough

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<v Speaker 1>seaweed and getting cattle to eat it may prove difficult.

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<v Speaker 1>Many researchers are investigating ways to alter what livestock eat

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<v Speaker 1>and to mix the best of old cow pastures, diverse,

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<v Speaker 1>naturally growing and nutrient rich grasses, and other plants with

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<v Speaker 1>the best of the new, fast growing and resistant to

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<v Speaker 1>invasive species. One possibility is to increase the ability of beneficial,

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<v Speaker 1>nutrient rich plants and flowers to grow alongside the fast

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<v Speaker 1>growing grasses commonly used in pastures. Another branch of research

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<v Speaker 1>focuses on plants that are high in tannins, which are

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<v Speaker 1>believed to lower methane levels in ruminants and boost milk production,

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<v Speaker 1>though excessively high levels are harmful to the animal's growth.

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<v Speaker 1>Yet another possibility exists in trapping the methane gas and

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<v Speaker 1>using it as energy or selling it back to the

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<v Speaker 1>electrical grid. Some farmers already extract methane from livestock waste,

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<v Speaker 1>but that doesn't solve the bigger problem of belched methane.

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<v Speaker 1>Harnessing that methane would mean trapping it in the air,

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<v Speaker 1>which again isn't really conducive to letting cattle do what

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<v Speaker 1>they do best, which is wander and grays. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>difficult problem, but people all over the planet are working

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<v Speaker 1>to better understand cattle's digestive systems and make them better

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<v Speaker 1>for the planet. Who knew cowbirds could cause so much excitement.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article do cow's pollute

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<v Speaker 1>as much as cars? On HowStuffWorks dot com, written by

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<v Speaker 1>Jacob Silverman. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership

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<v Speaker 1>with HowStuffWorks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang.

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<v Speaker 1>For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

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<v Speaker 1>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.