Articles tagged with: Green House Gases
Posted in Earth, Global warming on 17 July 2008
Until now most of us used to think that the way we travel affects our environment the most. This view is now kicked out by a 408-page report prepared by none other than.
Posted in Global warming on 10 July 2008
While scientists and governmental experts worldover are busy in figuring out ways to effectively reduce Global warming, their Argentinean counterparts have embarked on a unique study that critically examines a cow’s fart! This isn’t a bizarre-science expedition but a serious study by researchers, who are trying to understand (clearly) the link between gas produced by cows + other bovine species, global warming and climate change.
A lot of hue and cry has revolved around C02 – the greenhouse gas which is considered to be the culprit behind soaring temperatures around the globe. But now, a beginning is made to understand the role of other GHGs like methane in global warming. A cow’s sluggish digestive system results in a lot of gas (methane) being expelled from it’ behind.
Scientists in Argentina thus collected cow farts in plastic tanks attached to their backs and examined the gas composition. It was revealed in this attempt that more than 30 per cent of the country’s total greenhouse emissions consist of methane from these ruminants. It is a startling fact as Argentina tops the list of biggest beef producing countries with more than 55 million cows grazing in its famed Pampas grasslands. Even more startling is the figure found out by Guillermo Berra, a researcher at the National Institute of Agricultural Technology. According to him every cow produces 800 to 1,000 litres of emissions every day! I’m wondering if calculated for our Indian Cows what an astronomical figure it would be?
Posted in Earth, Ocean, Pollution on 4 July 2008
Rising CO2 levels is just not a nuisance for those living above the seas but for those dwelling underneath oceans as well. So far, the focus is shifted more towards the implication of increased levels of this gas in atmosphere; concerns on Global Warming thus being voiced by Governments and Public alike every other day. But oceanographers have warned that there’s another reason to check our carbon emissions as more carbon dioxide in the air means more of it in our oceans and seas. Most of us don’t realize that oceans are the absorbing-pits of this green house gas. As per an estimate, the world’s oceans have absorbed 40 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions produced by humans in the industrial age. And more and more CO2 in oceans is becoming a threat to Coral reefs - nature’s most lively and intricate architecture. Since the time Earth’s landscape comprised of nothing more than huge primordial soup in hot water bodies, these corals are being formed and today they are important for the healthy survival of other marine flora and fauna.