Hamburgers hurt the earth

[barmby]

These earthy issues always make more sense to the audience in Aq

CHICAGO - WHEN it comes to global warming, hamburgers are the Hummers of food, scientists say.

Simply switching from steak to salad could cut as much carbon as leaving the car at home a couple days a week.

That's because beef is such an incredibly inefficient food to produce and cows release so much harmful methane into the atmosphere, said Nathan Pelletier of Dalhousie University in Canada.

Dr Pelletier is one of a growing number of scientists studying the environmental costs of food from field to plate.

By looking at everything from how much grain a cow eats before it is ready for slaughter to the emissions released by manure, they are getting a clearer idea of the true costs of food. The livestock sector is estimated to account for 18 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and beef is the biggest culprit. Icanhasnocheezburger

Even though beef only accounts for 30 per cent of meat consumption in the developed world it's responsible for 78 per cent of the emissions, Dr Pelletier said on Sunday at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

That's because a single kilogram of beef produces 16kg carbon dioxide equivalent emissions: four times higher than pork and more than ten times as much as a kilogram of poultry, Mr Pelletier said.

If people were to simply switch from beef to chicken, emissions would be cut by 70 per cent, Dr Pelletier said. -- AFP

From and more in:
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking...ry_339043.html

[diazman]

the hamburgers are not directly to be blamed. its the cows that eats on the grass and then "burps" gas which is methane that contribute to global warming. nevertheless this article is good. helps in realizing that the world needs help.

[onizukaa]

lol. hambugers, everything hurts the earth, its depending how you view it :P