Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Cow Farts causing Global Warming!?

Scientists and farmers around the world are debating a very serious subject at the moment. You may not know it, but cows are actually one of the rudest animals around. In fact, they burp and fart so often and in such huge figures that the methane they release may be an affecting part of global warming. Yes, they are really talking about farting and burping cows.
Why are scientists talking about this? Good question, let's start with the science behind passing gas. Farts and burps are essentially pockets of gas that get released from human and animal bodies. Some of it is created inside our bodies as we digest food and some is ingested, when we eat or talk. This mixture is not useful to us, so our bodies propel it out as best they can, “passing gas or flatulence.”
One of the gases found in farts and burps is methane. Certain amounts of methane in the atmosphere are normal. Right along with other greenhouse gases, methane collects in the sky and traps warm air around our planet. The problem starts when the layer of greenhouse gases is too thick and too much heat is shut in. This effect is called global warming my friends!
A report published in the state of California a while back declared that dairy cows in the area were producing almost 20 lbs of gas every year. That is a ridiculously large amount of gas. If that number is correct, it could mean that cow farts are causing more greenhouse gases than pollution from cars, since California has millions of cows.
Scientists around our globe have known for a long time that animal gases could be trouble. What they cannot agree on is how big of a problem it can actually be. Even if scientists manage to measure the size of the farts or burps, they then have to work out how much methane they contain. It is very hard to measure just how much methane an animal is burping and farting out.
A Swedish university has taken this matter very seriously and has been awarded close to $600,000 in support to research this occurrence. Jan Bertilsson of the Swedish University for Agricultural Sciences stated that 20 cows will be involved in the study.
By attaching special collars around the cow’s necks, they hope to calculate the amount of methane released with each burp depending on the kind of food they consume. Mind you this is only a study on burps not farts.
I am not a scientist or anything but it looks like if we want to make a real effort at slowing down our climate change, we simply can’t only go after the cows. It just doesn’t seem to me to be the only source of the problem. What does the rest of the planet think?

Monday, March 9, 2009

Earth Hour!


By signing up you are supporting Earth Hour's aim to reach more than one billion people in 1000 cities around the world in 2009. Earth Hour is inviting communities, business and governments to switch off lights for one hour at 8:30pm on Saturday March 28, sending a powerful global message that we care enough about climate change to take action.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Cars and Global Warming

One of the most eye-opening conclusions of reports is that the vehicles we choose today will affect our lives for time to come. Astonishingly, the largest category of current on the road polluters is the small car. We ask ourselves why? Well, simply because there are so many of them on the road. Cars in and light trucks our nations are a huge supply of global warming pollution. United States automobiles emit more than 333 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, which is more than 1/5 of the nation's total CO2 emissions.
Compared with the rest of the planet, American automobiles emissions are excessively high. With only five percent of the world's population and thirty percent of the world's automobiles, the United States put in forty eight percent of the world's automotive CO2 emissions.
Any true effort to battle global warming has to include cutting automobile emissions. Acting now is crucial to slowing global warming and reducing air pollution.
Americans don't all have to drive hybrids to make a change in our nation. And, while we support everyone to use different forms of transportation whenever it is possible, the certainty is that cars are a big part of our American ways of life.

We should be thinking to:
• Put public pressure on the automobile industry to maintain a comprehensive national global warming policy.
• Educate vehicle owners and drivers on what they can do to decrease emissions.
• Explore ways we Americans can do our part to progress fuel efficiency and cut global warming pollution from America's automobiles.
So, if we all did our part to decrease automobile emissions and if all of us purchased the most fuel efficient vehicles that met our needs, and if all of us found ways to drive a less, if all of us did our best to keep our vehicles maintained, and if all of us contributed in prioritizing global warming as a issue in our daily lives, we would considerably decrease global warming pollution from America's vehicles.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Second Cause of Global Warming


The Main Cause for Global Warming

We humans who think of ourselves as the most intelligent things on this planet are intentionally or unintentionally destroying our own surroundings. One of the chief causes for global warming can be accredited to the behaviors of humans. It took more than twenty years for the world to finally accept that we humans are causing global warming with the emission of greenhouse gases which include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxide etc. the gases have formed an effect of green house on the earth’s exterior which prevents the reflection of the sun’s rays and therefore causes the boost in temperature. The radical boost in the emission of carbon dioxide in the last 30 years caused by burning fossil fuels has been recognized as the major reason for the change of temperature in the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide concentration in the air has amplified because of the emissions from power plants, airplanes, cars, industries etc. one more reason for it is deforestation. Forests have been reduced making way for cultivation, industries and cities. The vegetation was natural regulators of carbon dioxide that controlled its level’s in the atmosphere. Eighty percent or more of the worldwide energy claim is currently supplied by the fossil fuels oil, coal or gas. It will be unfeasible to find alternative sources, which could restore fossil fuels in the short or medium term. The energy demand is just too high.

Another subject is the non-renewable traits of fossil fuels. It took our planet millions of years to produce these resources, while we will have used them up in about the next few decades. Alone the lessening supply will not make it possible to carry on as usual for a longer time.