Burps lead to global warming

For more details on the following please read the full story in the Christian Science Monitor (16 August 2007):

When a cow digests its normal diet (up to almost 70 kilogram of grass, hay and silage per day) it produces methane and releases such gas with a belch into the atmosphere. Two things are important regarding the burped methane. First, methane is considered to be about 21 times more effective at warming Earth's atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Second, a cow burps every 40 seconds.

If we add up all these burps by also including goats, and buffaloes it is estimated that about 80 million metric tons of methane are produced every year, accounting for about 28 percent of ‘man-made’ methane emissions annually.

Let’s face it: Less steaks, less burps.

Photo of 'holy' cows in front of Agra Fort, India (October 2006).