Global Warming and Vegetarianism

The United Nations report estimates that 500 million cattle alone are slaughtered around the world every year. The untreated animal waste is stored in massive lagoons, which not only pollutes our waterways but also emits another 15 percent of harmful methane emissions into the atmosphere. And the story does not end there.

Methane has always been a part of the Earths atmosphere and structure. At high pressures, such as found on the bottom of the ocean, methane forms a solid clathrate with water, known as methane hydrate. The sudden release of large volumes of methane from such sediments has been suggested as a possible cause for rapid global warming events in the Earths distant past.

One source estimates that the size of methane hydrate deposits of the oceans at ten trillion tons. Theories suggest that should global warming cause them to heat up sufficiently, all of this methane could again be released into the atmosphere.

And remember, the global warming nature of methane is 23 times greater than CO2. This would immensely magnify the greenhouse effect, heating the Earth to unprecedented levels.

Although less dramatic than release from ocean clathrates, but already happening, is an increase in the release of methane from bogs as permafrost melts. Recent years have seen increased thawing of the permafrost in the Arctic Circle. Measurements in Siberia show that the methane released is five times greater than previously estimated.

Now the good news. Methane is not the enemy. Actually, it has tremendous potential as a source of renewable energy. Methane’s relative abundance and clean burning process make it an attractive fuel source.

At room temperature and standard pressure, methane is colorless and odorless. Methane is non-toxic. It is the cleanest, least harmful form of hydrocarbon, most commonly known in domestic environments, as natural gas.

Apart from gas fields, methane can be obtained via biogas generated by the fermentation of organic matter, including manure, wastewater sludge, and other naturally occurring sources under anaerobic conditions.

And more good news. Unlike carbon dioxide, which can remain in the air for more than a century, methane cycles out of the atmosphere in just eight years, so that lower methane emissions quickly translate to a cooling of the Earth.

Simply by going vegetarian, we can eliminate the impact of global warming. Could it be any simpler? And of course, the usual pro vegetarian arguments remain. We will have cleaner waterways, sustainably managed rainforests and pasturelands, plus the potential, with proper management, to easily feed the entire world population.

The things that really matter most to all of us are fresh air, clean drinking water, and healthy food, all of which can be provided by a switch to vegetarianism. It’s really a no brainer.

Any serious environmental advocate should mention vegetarianism as an action that can be taken to address global warming. Governments could encourage farm subsidies for plant agriculture. There could be an increased awareness taught in food programs and schools.

Unfortunately, as Frances Moore Lappe mentions, “Again and again I have to learn this lesson: often those with the most information concerning our societies basic problems are those so schooled in defending the status quo that they are blind to the implications of what they know.”

I attended a social function recently. At lunchtime, I gnawed on a lettuce leaf, as those around me feasted on flesh foods. Something tells me that even if presented with all relevant information regarding global warming and environmental destruction, they would still not be prepared to give up eating meat.

It is an addiction after all, and socialized through many generations. We vegetarians will continue to be viewed, at least for the time being, as greenies, hippies, and misfits.

Sometimes talk is important. Sometimes rhetoric is important. But sometimes also, it is not a matter of what comes out of your mouth that is important, but what goes into it.

I think of my friend Mr. Agrawal occasionally, and of his God, Krishna, a cowherd boy, and of heaven as a rural, self sufficient and sustainable environment. And I wonder, who is really the sacred cow?