Cow burps really do impact global warming • Earth.com

Cow burps really do impact global warming

03-23-2018


Cow burps really do impact global warming Today’s Video of the Day comes from the American Chemical Society’s Reactions series and features a look at how gas emitted from cows really does contribute to global warming.

An average cow can burp up to 200 to 600 liters of methane every day due to their unusual four-stomach digestive system.

As we have covered, methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that can warm the Earth with a potency 28 times that of carbon dioxide. Therefore recently, the idea that cattle could be a source of greenhouse gas has been attracting attention. It turns out that the belches of cows, sheep, and other livestock animals contain substantial amounts of methane, a particularly potent greenhouse gas that has about 25 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide.

The question now stands at whether or not human farts and burps are large contributions to global warming. According to a study investigating the normal flatus production in healthy volunteers, the chemical composition of their farts on a high fiber diet is larger than that of individuals. 

 Contrary to common belief, it’s cow belching due to enteric fermentation. (“Enteric fermentation” is the digestive process of converting sugars into simple molecules for absorption into the bloodstream, which produces methane as a by-product. Cow burps really do impact global warming as shown above in video shows the impact it truly makes.

By Rory Arnold, Earth.com Staff Writer

Video Credit: American Chemical Society

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