How do cows pollute the air?

Answer 1

Yes, and not only farts, the gas they belch out too, contains methane, which is a greenhouse gas twenty times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Thus they do contribute to the greenhouse effect.

A:

Yes and no. Yes because methane is more potent than carbon dioxide and has a higher affect on the incidence of the greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide does. Carbon dioxide and Methane (as well as Nitrous Oxide) are all organic gaseous chemicals that contribute to global warming. However, the answer would also be no because carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are also gases that are found naturally from not just cows or other ruminants, but also from natural movements and activities of the earth's surface. All animals, including humans, exhale carbon dioxide, as well as release methane from flatulence and belching. Methane also comes from the activity of decomposing plant and animal matter, gas released from swamps and the warming of the Arctic plains, from oceans and lakes, and from volcanic eruptions. Thus it is partially erroneous and illogical, but very ignorant of us to blame cows for being "bad for the environment" when there are much more noticeable and larger factors at play for the cause of global warming.

Answer 2

Every animal that eats (you, cows and whales, etc.) digests its food to produce building blocks for its cells, energy and waste.

The wastes can be solids, liquids or gases - scientifically called fecal matter, urine and flatulence. Each can produce environental problems if put into the environment at a rate beyond the capacity of the environment to absorb it. A zebra's worth of waste in Africa doesn't do much, but a piggery dumping into a small stream is bad.

Lets review each of the wastes and see the impacts:

Solid Waste (AKA manure):

This is mixture of undigested food, intestinal bacteria. It can pollute soil by overloading the nitrogen content. use up all the oxygen in water to kill fish or add enough ammonia to water to poison aquatic life (fish) or over fertilize water to produce too much algae. In addition fecal bacteria (Like e-coli and PSA) can cause diseases. Needless to say, waste in water supply can make it taste funny. Most well run farms try to handle manure by scientific spreading on fields or by mechanical treatment

Liquid Waste:

Much the same as solid waste with its high nitrogen ammonia levels. Bad for fish and too good for algae.

Gaseous Waste:

This gets interesting. The flatulence from ruminants (cattle etc.) contains high levels of methane because their guts convert cellulose to starches and sugars. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, 21 times as bad for the environment as carbon dioxide. The methane generation rate is dependent on what the cow eats - some foods are gassier than others. Experts in agriculture spend a lot of time devising the best, least gassy diets for cows.

Answer 3

Globally, fossil fuel-based energy is responsible for about 60% of human greenhouse gas emissions, Deforestation at about 18%,

Animal agriculture between 14% and 18%.

(Estimates from the World Resources Institute, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and Pitesky et al. 2009).

Answer 4

Animal agriculture produces between 14% and 18% of human greenhouse gas emissions.

(Estimates from the World Resources Institute, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and Pitesky et al. 2009).

Answer 5

Not as much as methane from landfills pollute the air. Methane and carbon emissions from cows is not nearly as significant as those emissions caused by human activity.

Answer 6

It releases methane which is a greenhouse gas i.e. traps heat from the sun making the earth hotter

Answer 7

They don't...

It's their crap or rather manure that may be used for plants or washed away by rain water. See how it fits into the water cycle:

Answer 8

it stinks

Answer 9

Yes.