Does methane produced by livestock encourage “global warming”?
A study by Texas A & M University has calculated that the entire North American beef industry contributes about 0.5% to global methane levels. (Canada’s 13 million cattle contribute about 0.025%.) Most methane comes from a wide range of sources including wetlands, forest fires, landfills, rice paddies, the extraction of gas, oil and coal and even termites. The daily production of greenhouse gas by a cow is equal to that of a car driven 3.2 kilometres. In fact, driving to the store to buy groceries produces 800 times more greenhouse gas than does the production of a hamburger. Never-the-less, agricultural scientists are studying ways to reduce the amount of methane produced by agriculture.
