This Meets the Eye in Reverse

[H]

or, at least, did so with mine. When I read the title Eating Less Meat May Slow Climate Change my first thought was "That should heat up the atmosphere with the emissions of overpopulating herds." Turns out that the scientific consensus is the opposite, however, concluding that fewer would be raised. I guess this means that those alive would suicidally die from rejection before birthing offspring.
I'm not in contention with the diagnosis that eating meat increases cancer and circulatory risks. They also stated that eating less meat would decrease obesity, however. Personally, I 'm still fighting increases with my body fat and, for more than a decade, my red meat consumption has been rare, although I don't want to eat it at all if it's rare.
Perhaps the dinosaurs didn't die, at least directly, from an external disaster as presently thought. Rather, it was from intentional constipation -- to reduce global heat, they'd plugged their butts.

8-)

[beaky]

If the meat industry as it is now were suddenly abandoned, there would soon be a massive drop in cattle numbers, primarily because nobody would be feeding them. Disease would kill more, etc. omestic cattle couldn't just go off into the woods to live like deer. Longhorns, maybe...

Not saying I'm in the "it's all our fault" camp when it comes to climate change, but if you consider what goes into meat production it's easy to understand the concerns: agriculture in general produces a lot of "greenhouse gases" and methane from cow farts is the least of it. Farm machinery, petroleum-based fertilizers, trucks for transporting cattle and meat, electricity demand for cattle raising/slaughtering/refrigeration (most electricity in the US is produced by burning coal). etc., etc. Even dairy farms, since they mechanized everything, consume huge amounts of electricity.

[H]

...there would soon be a massive drop in cattle numbers, primarily because nobody would be feeding them. Disease would kill more, etc. domestic cattle couldn't just go off into the woods to live like deer. Longhorns, maybe

They should eventually dwindle down but the only major immediate threats are predators and, particularly in the north, winter. They recognize grass when they see it (we didn't have to teach ours to graze, anyway); as long as the streams don't run dry, they don't have to be led to the water, either. A neighbor has two small herds next to the brook and river below me (Herefords); I don't think they've ever seen a barn and he doesn't waste his money on grain. Ours saw both in the evening but were pastured all day until my dad got tired of them jumping the five foot high fence (ours were Herefords except the Jersey cow and a red-brown bull). The neighbor throws out hay bales for his in the winter.
There's no beef with the rest of your reasoning. However, the article on the scientific report never mentioned those in the equation. Bovine exhaust was the only one mentioned.

8-)

[Mike..]

I'm trying to do my part and eat them as fast as I can! But i'm only one man!



Mike

[H]

I'm trying to do my part and eat them as fast as I can! But i'm only one man!

Are you telling us you're full of bull?

8-)

[Mike..]

Nahhhhhhhh.....My eyes are blue.......I'm a few quarts low!



Mike

[MWISimmer]

Medium Steak
Bacon Sandwich
Lamb chops
Pork pies
Roast Chicken.

Give that lot up?
You're 'aving a laugh  :D

Meat is Murder... but it don't half taste good  ;)

[Mushroom_Farmer]

It's true grass fed cows produce more methane than their lot fed counterparts. But through carbon sequestration thanks to the vast amounts of pasture the total output of overall greenhouse may in reality be less, possibly to the point of actually reducing greenhouse gasses. Add to that grazing animals increase the overall health of grasslands.

[Xyn_Air]

So if flatulence is so bad, when do we start sending people to jail for eating baked beans, grilled onions, or boiled cabbage?  Or, maybe eating sauerkraut could be a capital crime.

And why just stop with the meat cattle.  I say, down with dairy cattle, too.  Why just give up steaks and hamburgers and corned beef when you can toss out ice cream and cheese and milk, too?

And speaking of cattle products, where the heck am I going to get all my leather fetish gear if we do away with the cows?  I suppose you will have me put down by lethal flattulation if I even think about buying a cat-o-nine-tails or a gimp suit.  I mean . . . er . . . um . . .

Nevermind.

~Darrin