----- Original Message -----
From: "Nick Palmer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, April 27, 2007 11:20 AM
Subject: Re: [Vo]:to John Berry regarding GW
John Steck wrote:-
<<And cows pump out more methane globally than we do CO2 (my tribute to
Fred)... methane is a way more harmful/reactive GHG>> (snip insult to
people of higher moral standing than the writer :o))
True'ish but not the whole truth. As methane is "way more harmful/reactive
than CO2", it does not build up in the atmosphere, particularly the upper
atmosphere where most of the damage is done. It reacts chemically with
something - it's gone!
The bovine methane argument has been one of the lesser known reasons to
go vegetarian for many years - the "insufferable" ones have been ahead of
the pack for absolutely AGES! Interestingly enough, it is only the
domestic cow that creates the large amounts of methane (this needs
checking for validity - I only read about this once). I don't know if
this is because of their diet or if this was an unintended consequence of
their being bred for greater milk/meat production...
Nick Palmer
P.S. Same thing for water vapour which is also "way more reactive" than
CO2 - it doesn't accumulate significantly because it precipitates out as
rain or snow and similarly it does not affect the upper atmosphere (any
vapour that gets up there changes into ice crystals)
