Nitrous oxide and methane emissions recalculated - 20 Jul 2010  
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Although CO2 emissions are typically believed to be the primary source of global warming, a study conducted by Dutch government researcher Dr. Petra Kroon has found that non-CO2 emissions, specifically those from methane and nitrous oxide, have in fact been underestimated due to inaccurate measuring methods.

By devising an innovative technique to measure the emission of these gases, Dr. Kroon, who was conducting research on behalf of the Netherlands’ Energy Research Center and Delft University of Technology, was able to calculate their contributions more accurately.

She found that the previous methods used by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for measuring these gases would account in the Netherlands for 14% percent of overall greenhouse gas emissions, and 23% globally.

However, Dr. Kroon’s newly available technology and methods that allowed measurements across several hectares continuously yielded vastly different measurements, which were also calculated with a much higher degree of certainty.

Using this technique, Dr. Kroon found, for example, that 70% of the annual greenhouse gas emissions in a peat pasture area used for intensive dairy farming were attributed to methane and nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide and methane are known to be linked to agriculture, with the methane mostly released from cattle and nitrous oxide emitted primarily by their manure as well as fertilizers. These two gases are also known to have a much higher global warming potential than CO2, which could change other calculations considerably.

Our appreciation, Dr. Kroon, the Netherlands and Delft University of Technology for this insightful research.
May individuals and governments alike quickly adopt more sustainable ways such as organic vegan farming to cool and restore our planetary balance. During a November 2009 videoconference in the United States, Supreme Master Ching Hai discussed research findings that also confirmed the significance of nitrous oxide and methane and their main source in animal agriculture.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Now, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported that livestock raising is the single largest human use of land, the biggest source of water pollution, the number one cause of biodiversity loss, and the top producer of human-caused methane and nitrous oxide.

And the largest source of methane is? You know - livestock. There is an advantage of time here, because one aspect of methane is that it dissipates in around 12 year’s time, whereas carbon dioxide, CO2, stays in the atmosphere for up to thousands of years.

So, we remove the livestock-generated methane, and the planet cools fast!
I am positive we will do it. Yes? We can make it – just a little change, just a little change. Just a little piece of animal meat, change to vegetable protein.