Cody offers strong pressure against Tristram Coffin’s argument against cattle-raising. It is true that there are dozens other sources of methane emissions, many of them natural causes, from wetlands, wild animals and termites. However, much of his pressure centers on the high percentage of methane emissions termites supposedly emit. I am not very learned in this topic, but I was interested in learning more after reading Cody’s blog post. Searching online, I did find the numbers Cody spoke of, but I came across further research countering those numbers. Not wanting to risk explaining this incorrectly, I will directly quote the findings which state that “the earlier study [taking place in the 1980s] overestimated the amount of food consumed by termites each year and did not take into account methane absorption by the ground near their mounds, a fact discovered only during field experiments.” Moreover, their researchers determined the total amount of methane emissions by termites globally to be about 2% (12 x 1012) of the total emissions. This more recent study took place in the 1990s (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_n17_v137/ai_8988319/).
If true, it seems that these statistics weaken Cody’s argument against Coffin. However, I think it is important to note that Coffin’s argument does not necessarily rest on methane emissions alone. Rather, it is one of many examples of cattle-raising’s detrimental effects on both the environment and humans. Also included in his article were the significant amounts of water and fossil fuels consumed in producing livestock, the decreased animal and plant life associated with deforestation, and the decreased carrying capacity of the increasingly large deserts due to persistent cattle grazing. Just as important, if not more, is the grain wasted on producing livestock which could be used to feed millions of starving people around the world.
Cody does remind us that the environment can be affected detrimentally by natural and man-made sources alike. Regardless, I think it is important to focus on the larger picture of Coffin’s argument. Although reducing cattle-raising may cause some new detriment to our environment, these detrimental effects – at least those proposed by Cody – seem to pale in comparison to the tremendous good it would do for both humans and the environment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The end of my first paragraph, the numbers were meant to be read as (12 x 10^12)
ReplyDelete