Author: whrovnkmae

Methane is one of the most dangerous greenhouse gases: responsible for a third of global warming. The biggest culprit? The meat and dairy industry. The many farts, burps and poo from all those livestock animals around the world are anything but harmless.

What is methane?

Methane (CH4) is a powerful greenhouse gas, up to 80 times stronger than CO2. It is released during natural processes, such as the decomposition of plants in nature (known as “swamp gas”). Since the rise of industrial agriculture, methane concentrations in the atmosphere have increased 2.5 times. How exactly does this work?

Methane and the livestock industry

Methane is produced and emitted during a cow’s digestion. As cows eat plants and break them down in their stomachs, methane is produced and emitted when they burp. And cows burp a lot – every 90 seconds! In addition, methane is produced by large amounts of pig, cow and chicken manure. The more of these animals in one place, the more manure and therefore more methane. Methane emissions are constantly increasing; over the past 20 years, methane emissions from livestock have risen by 12.5% as a result of increased production and consumption.

Short but powerful – and dangerous

Although carbon dioxide (CO2) is a well-known greenhouse gas that remains in the atmosphere for centuries, methane has a shorter lifespan: it disappears from the atmosphere in just 12 years – if we stop emitting it. But during that time, it warms our planet faster than other gases and causes a lot of damage to our climate. In short, every year that we fail to drastically reduce methane emissions, global warming will continue at its current rapid pace.

Klimaatschurk JBS

One such company is JBS, the world’s largest meat producer and currently – on paper – a Dutch company. Due in particular to its enormous methane emissions, JBS is already one of the biggest contributors to global warming. According to research by Changing Markets, JBS’s methane emissions exceed the total methane emissions of the livestock populations of France, Germany, Canada and New Zealand combined. Greenpeace Nordics calculated that JBS’s methane emissions are greater than those of oil giants Exxonmobile and Shell combined.

Companies such as JBS pretend that the amount of climate pollution they cause is insignificant – and so far, global climate agreements, such as those made at climate summits, have let companies like JBS off the hook.