Global Warming - blah, blah, blah

I came across this article in today's The Times Of India (Pune edition) and felt little intrigued. It says "Proper livestock management can reduce global warming"

Here is the snapshot of the article:

From Image Store for my gpitta-blog

Points of interest:

• We know that carbon, methane, nitrous oxide are some of the greenhouse gases. Livestock ruminants produce methane and carbon dioxide while digesting feed in their rumen.
• In India, a majority of the livestock are low on productivity, under-nourished and surviving on open grazing, high fibre roughages (includes pasture and hay). These animals release more methane than high yielding animals that consume better quality feed.
• Importantly, most farmers are unaware of the threat posed by their livestock to global warming.
• Most of the low productive livestock release significant volume of methane during night when housed in cattle sheds. Besides, animal dung and urine releases methane and nitrous oxide. Better management of farm yard manure and compost pits can reduce this emission.
• Explore the policy and scope for relaxing export of cattle and other livestock.

Here is a link to another article that reads "Can Cattle Save Us From Global Warming?"

Points of interest: (Compare this against the points above)

• First, the cattle industry and meat eating are targeted as a leading cause of global warming, up there with autos, jet planes and coal-burning power plants.
• Second, efforts to stop global warming have been focused almost entirely on reducing emissions, not in taking existing carbon out of the atmosphere (a process known as known as carbon sequestration). Therefore this article talks more about carbon farming. Moreover, it supports no-till agriculture and managed grazing projects. The article suggests that these techniques help in higher absorption of atmospheric carbon by the soil.
• But what about the argument that meat-eating is a major cause of global warming due to massive emissions of nitrous oxide, methane and other greenhouse gases from livestock operations? John Wicks answers immediately and forcefully, “That’s absolutely correct about feedlots and absolutely wrong about grass-fed livestock. Sustainably-raised grass-fed beef is a natural system and the methane and other greenhouse gases are mitigated by the carbon sequestration in the soil. We see this as a way to phase out feedlots.”
• If the solution to global warming involves large herds of hoofed animals moving through landscape in ways that take carbon out of the atmosphere and into the soil, we can do that.
• The central idea in carbon farming is moving the animals frequently—as once happened with wild herds chased by predators—so grasses are not gnawed beyond the point of natural recovery and plant cover remains to fertilize the land and sequester carbon.

Observations:

• First article talks against low productivity of under-nourished livestock. Whereas, the second article talks against feedlots where high-quality food is forcefed. It rather supports open and managed grazing.
• Energy output of green food (feeding on leaves, grass) is inherently less. Livestock ruminants have to feed a lot to get the required energy. Isn't that natural? While mentioning export of cattle and other livestock, about having better quality feed, is the first article insinuating about profiting some industry? Does this smell fishy?
• While mentioning livestock as one of the contributors to the emission of methane, are not the exploding population (and so the meat consumption), exploding industrialization as the major contributors towards global warming?
• While the second article supports no-till farming and managed grazing, India does not have much land space to afford this luxury. It may hold good to the US. With the forested land being less than 7 percent of our land mass, and the agricultural area under high pressure feeding the current population, all these suggestions are impractical to most of the third world countries.

Why can't the scientific community think simple?

• Be a thoughtful spender of natural resources. This does not need one to be a hermit or a miser.
• Put a brake to the wants. Why does a family need more than one vehicle (considering vehicle is a need in the current generation)? Number of four-wheelers in the US is almost equal to the adult population. The trend has started in the cities of India as well.
• Understand and respect the difference between "needs" and "wants"