Cow 'emissions' more damaging to planet than CO2 from cars

By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor
Published: 10 December 2006

From The Independent.

Meet the world's top destroyer of the environment. It is not the car, or the plane,or even George Bush: it is the cow.

A United Nations report has identified the world's rapidly growing herds of cattle as the greatest threat to the climate, forests and wildlife. And they are blamed for a host of other environmental crimes, from acid rain to the introduction of alien species, from producing deserts to creating dead zones in the oceans, from poisoning rivers and drinking water to destroying coral reefs.

The 400-page report by the Food and Agricultural Organisation, entitledLivestock's Long Shadow, also surveys the damage done by sheep, chickens,pigs and goats. But in almost every case, the world's 1.5 billion cattle aremost to blame. Livestock are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhousegases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other formsof transport put together.

Burning fuel to produce fertiliser to grow feed, to produce meat and totransport it - and clearing vegetation for grazing - produces 9 per cent ofall emissions of carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas. And theirwind and manure emit more than one third of emissions of another, methane,which warms the world 20 times faster than carbon dioxide.

Livestock also produces more than 100 other polluting gases, including morethan two-thirds of the world's emissions of ammonia, one of the main causesof acid rain.

Ranching, the report adds, is "the major driver of deforestation" worldwide,and overgrazing is turning a fifth of all pastures and ranges intodesert.Cows also soak up vast amounts of water: it takes a staggering 990litres of water to produce one litre of milk.

Wastes from feedlots and fertilisers used to grow their feed overnourishwater, causing weeds to choke all other life. And the pesticides,antibiotics and hormones used to treat them get into drinking water andendanger human health.

The pollution washes down to the sea, killing coral reefs and creating "deadzones" devoid of life. One is up to 21,000sqkm, in the Gulf of Mexico, wheremuch of the waste from US beef production is carried down the Mississippi.

The report concludes that, unless drastic changes are made, the massivedamage done by livestock will more than double by 2050, as demand for meatincreases.