Explained like I’m 5 - Cows don’t pollute
A. Cows don’t create carbon, they perform neither nuclear fission or nuclear fusion. They can’t create elements.
B. Everything that comes out of a cow, must have gone into the cow.
C. Grass grows using carbon from the environment.
D. Cows eat grass, because they are a ruminant.
E. All the gas that comes out of a cow went into the cow as grass.
F. Therefore all the carbon that come out of a cow first has to be captured by grass to go into the cow.
G. Cows are part of a natural biocycle, they do not create pollution.
H. If cows don’t eat the grass something will - animals, fire, microbes, and the biocycle will continue.
To what end, so we can game GWP-20 while ignoring the lion’s share of GWP-100 from industry, all the while getting sicker and losing topsoil?
No need to ignore GWP-100 or GWP-20 or accept losing topsoil. We can reduce the carbon footprint from beef production and from other food production and work on sustainable and healthy diets for all.
We probably have to do all of them at the same time, in fact.
But I don’t know how we best fight climate change. My point was just that eating less beef translates into a clear and significant reduction of pressure on the climate. What you do with that fact is up to you.
Ruminant meat is essential to human health, there are lots of sick people in the world (almost a billion t2ds) and the climate impact of maintaining sick people is quite high. Getting the sick people off carbs and onto meat would really help everyone, including the climate.
We need ruminants to make topsoil, you can’t remove them and create top soil.
Sure - if we reduce the meat production to what is medically necessary and required for topsoil, I’m sure that would be a major reduction in livestock and climate pressure.
I am not saying get rid of all meat. I’m saying that each piece of meat you eat is increasing the pressure on the climate.
But what do you mean “essential”? What about the people that live long, healthy lives without it?
Unless I’m reading what you’ve said wrongly it’s remarkable you think most GWP-100 is from food production.
I don’t think most of GWP-100 is from food production. I think food production is a significant part of human GHG emissions. But I don’t think it’s the majority.