Is it true that cow, sheep, and termite flatulence does more damage to the ozone layer than fluorocarbons? How much damage do human farts do? –Mojo, Washington, D.C.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
I’m glad you wrote, mon ami, because it gives me a chance to rail once again on my favorite topic, namely the unbelievable feebleness of the daily press. You were no doubt inspired to write by a story that appeared last December in the Washington Post headlined “Feed, Animal Flatulence and Atmosphere.” It described the work of one Donald Johnson, an animal-nutrition specialist at Colorado State University, who supposedly has been studying cow flatulence. According to the story, animal flatulence “contributes in a large way to the potentially catastrophic warming of the globe, the ‘greenhouse effect.’” Each cow emits 200 to 400 quarts of methane gas per day, or 50 million metric tons per year.
That little detail aside, animal methane does present a definite threat to the biota. It’s believed 18 percent of the greenhouse effect is caused by methane, which probably ranks third on the list of offending gases behind carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons. Methane breaks down in the atmosphere to form carbon dioxide, ozone, and water, all of which absorb heat. The temperature of the atmosphere rises, and next thing you know the ice caps melt.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): illustration/Slug Signorino.
