Cows Cause Climate Change

One degree is the difference between freezing and melting. One degree is the difference

between surviving and thriving. One degree is the difference between the global average

temperature of the year 1900 and the year 2014. The world has seen a 0.66º C increase in

temperature, and while it may seem like a small change, it will have a major effect on daily lives

and the ecosystem in the near future (​Global Land and Temperature Anomalies​). ​The main

contributor to this increase is the effect of greenhouse gases, and in order to decrease these

effects, the consumption of dairy products should be reduced.

Greenhouse gases are gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, which

pollute the air. These gases allow “direct sunlight (relative shortwave energy) to reach the Earth's

surface unimpeded,” (Greenhouse Gases). Once this is reflected off of the Earth’s surface, the

gases trap the heat in the atmosphere (Greenhouse Gases). These gases are important to keep the

earth at livable temperatures. According to John T. Hardy, author of “Climate Change: Causes,

Effects, and Solutions” published in 2003, if they were not present the “Earth's average surface

temperature would be about —20 °C (—4 °F) instead of 15 °C (59 °F)” (Hardy 5). In short,

greenhouse gases have a major effect on temperature, and this has been a trend since the

beginning of time.

Throughout history, global temperatures have risen and fallen naturally. The first major

occurrence of climate change was the cooling period that came with photosynthetic organisms

(Hardy 24). Due to carbon dioxide and the greenhouse effect, the earth had a relatively high

temperature. Photosynthesis started converting carbon dioxide to organic carbon and oxygen,

which “reduced the heat trapping capacity of the atmosphere and led to a major cooling trend”
(Hardy 24). This was followed by a warming period due to tectonic activity causing volcanic

eruptions. More carbon dioxide was released into the environment, which increased the effect of

greenhouse gases and increased the temperature to about 5º warmer than the current temperature.

Once tectonic activity cooled down, photosynthetic organisms were able to bring temperatures

back down. These increases and decreases of carbon dioxide have continued to affect the

environment and cause climate change without the influence of civilization since then. However,

because of civilizations, carbon dioxide levels are at an all-time high. If this were the only

contender, photosynthetic organisms could use this and thrive on it, but it is not. While there is a

correlation between carbon dioxide and the temperature increase, methane has been another

major contributor.

Like carbon dioxide and temperatures, methane has been on the rise as well. According

to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s 2014 annual greenhouse gas index,

methane has increased by approximately 300 parts per billion since 1980, reaching around 1825

parts per billion in 2014 (Butler). Compared to carbon dioxide, which is around 400 parts per

million, methane may seem like a small threat (Butler). However, methane traps heat radiation

over twenty five times more efficiently than carbon dioxide (Greenhouse Gases). This means it

has a far greater effect on the Earth’s atmosphere, and its amount is increasing. “The global

methane increase was substantially faster during 2014 than during 2007 through 2013,” states the

NOAA (Butler). There are many factors that are causing this rapid increase, including the

melting of ice caps, coal mining, and landfills, but the major unexpected contributors are cows.

Cows account for nearly 30% of methane emissions resulting from anthropogenic

activities (“Agriculture”). Of these emissions, approximately 80% comes from enteric

fermentation, which is part of the natural digestive process (“Agriculture”). While all livestock

goes through this process, cows produce the most methane because they are ruminant animals.

Ruminant animals have a four-part stomach that consists of the rumen, the reticulum, the

omasum, and the abomasum (Boland). Microbial fermentation breaks down the food in the

rumen into products that can be metabolized, or stored for energy (Boland). This produces

significantly more methane than animals such as horses, which go through this process in the

large intestine only (“Agriculture”). Because cows’ digestive processes negatively affect the

environment, decreasing the amount of dairy products should be considered to decrease the

effect humans have on the environment. While this may seem to be a daunting task, it can be

made easy by vegan products.

Cutting dairy out of the normal diet is a simple task that does not involve giving up things

like ice cream and cheese, it just requires changing the recipes. Stores have recently started

selling vegan cheese options and vegan ice creams. While these are on the market due to many

people going vegan for reasons such as inhumane conditions or general health, these vegan

products can become an environmentally conscious dietary choice. In many homemade recipes,

almond milk and soymilk can be used in place of milk. If this change does not take place, it

could have terrible consequences.

Climate change like this has never occurred before; therefore it is difficult to predict what

exactly will happen if nothing is done (Schrag). However, warming temperatures will affect the

agriculture and lifestyles of cities around the world. The predicted 5º C increase would “​shift

terrestrial habitats about 500 to 750 km northward,” which could, “change the climate of

Washington DC to that of Charleston, South Carolina, or that of Southern France to Algeria”

(Hardy 56). This will cause the snow on mountains to melt earlier in the season, which will

affect the agriculture of places like California. “All the agriculture in California depends on the

snowmelt that happens throughout the summer”, explains Daniel Schrag, a professor in the

Department of Earth and Planetary Science at Harvard University. Snow collects at the top of the

mountains throughout winter, and slowly melts during the summer, supplying surrounding areas

with a steady source of water (Schrag). As temperatures rise, this snow will melt earlier in the

season and, by mid-summer “that snow is either going to be gone or melted so much that the

rivers are flowing at a trickle” (Schrag). This will lead to a drought, and pose a big problem for

agriculture. Rising temperatures will not only make it difficult for crops to thrive, they will make

it difficult for people to survive.

Heat waves have become more common throughout time, and they have a devastating

effect on the cities the touch. In the July of 1995, Chicago experienced temperatures reaching a

high of 104º F. This caused 465 deaths from July 11 to July 27 (“July 1995 Heat Wave”). In

2003, France experienced a heat wave causing 14,800 deaths (Dhainaut). Schrag describes these

events as something that should occur once in a thousand years, however they’ve occurred

within ten years of each other (Schrag). These heat waves will only continue to become more

common and more unbearable unless actions are taken to slow climate change.

Decreasing the consumption of dairy products is a necessary step in the fight against climate

change. This, combined with other efforts to decrease greenhouse gases, will save the Earth and

its inhabitants. If environmentally conscious lifestyle changes do not occur, consequences such

as drought, floods, and unbearable temperatures will follow, and lifestyles will be forced to

change.
 Works Cited

“Agriculture.” ​U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report​. United States Environmental Protection

Agency. 2014. Web. 15 Dec. 2015.

Boland, Holly T., Daniel J. Rivera, and Jane A. Parish. “Understanding the Ruminant Animal

Digestive System.” Mississippi State University, 2009. Web. 15 Dec. 2015

Butler, James H., and Stephen A. Montzka. “THE NOAA ANNUAL GREENHOUSE GAS

INDEX (AGGI).” ​NOAA/ESRL Global Monitoring Division​. National Oceanic &

Atmospheric Administration’s, Spring 2015. Web. 16 Dec. 2015.

Dhainaut, Jean-François, Yann-Erick Claessens, Christine Ginsburg, and Bruno Riou.

“Unprecedented Heat-related Deaths during the 2003 Heat Wave in Paris: Consequences

on Emergency Departments.” ​Critical Care​. BioMed Central, 4 Dec. 2003. Web. 14 Dec.

2015.

Global Land and Temperature Anomalies​. Digital image. ​National Centers for Environmental

Information​. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.

“Greenhouse Gases.” ​Greenhouse Gases​. National Climatic Data Center, 15 Dec. 2015. Web. 16

Dec. 2015.

Hardy, John T​. “Climate Change: Causes, Effects, and Solutions.”​ New York: Wiley, 2003.

Questia School​. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.

“History of Cheese.” ​IDFA​. International Dairy Foods Association, 2015. Web. 16 Dec. 2015.

“July 1995 Heat Wave.” Silver Spring, MD: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service, 1995. ​NOAA​. Web. 16 Dec.

2015.
Schrag, Daniel. “Earth’s Climate: Back to the Future.” ​2012​. Lecture. 12 December 2015.