Do animals such as cows increase CO2 levels?

Believe it or not. NO! Cows do not add add any CO2 They simply recycle what CO2 was previously there. A cow's only source of carbon is in the plants they eat. The plants they eat get their carbon from the CO2 in the air. If you get rid of the cows the plants will starve.

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ArishMell · 70-79, M

I believe it! They "work" in much the same way as any air-breathing animal, taking in oxygen and breathing out carbon-dioxide used as you say.]

The big hoo-hah about them is anywhat about the methane they belch, a by-product of their digestion; but that can be limited by supplements, including, I was surprised to learn, seaweed!

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hippyjoe1955 · 70-79, M

@ArishMell The idea is that CO2 is 'excited' by a narrow band if IR radiation. It is not about trapping heat since heat from air is dissipated into space when the sun sets. There is nothing magical about CO2 that keeps more heat than oxygen or nitrogen and as a trace gas even if it did it would so miniscule we couldn't measure it. Water vapour is much more heat/cooling blanket than any of the invisible gases combined and we are doing nothing to control it.....

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@hippyjoe1955 yes,water-vapaour is more effective than CO2 but we can't do anything about that. We can though stop converting carbon into carbon-dioxide, or more sensibly greatly diminish its use, and that is what most countries are trying to do.

Whether they are going about it in the right way is another matter, but at least they are making the attempt.

hippyjoe1955 · 70-79, M

@ArishMell CO2 is not a driver of climate change. It is plant food. More CO2 = more plants. More plants = more animals. Adding C02 is a net benefit. Give a listen to Dr Patrick Moore founder of Green Peace. You can find his talks on YouTube. Interesting man.

phillyguy · 56-60

They increase CO2 depending on the population since they breath like we do. Also they produce a fair amount of METHANE due to digestion. As you have more cows/steers to make milk or meat it will go up.

hippyjoe1955 · 70-79, M

@phillyguy You don't understand science do you? Too funny.

TheOneyouwerewarnedabout · 46-50, MVIP

to get suckered into the climate CO2 cult.
you must forget every highschool science lesson you ever learned.

trees are natures CO2 filter..

the problem is.. its way cheaper to clear land thats close to a power source. (new developments and industries)
than it is to run power to land that's already cleared..

then you simply blame the useless eaters and cow farts for rising CO2 levels.. instead of big money doing things as cheaply as possible.. by clearing all the trees ..

FreestyleArt · 36-40, M

And they become rust/ dead grass

hippyjoe1955 · 70-79, M

@FreestyleArt Did you ever see that patch of land where they were trying to protect some plant from being eaten by grazers so they fenced it all off. The grass and plants inside the fence where no animals were allowed was dead while the grass on the other side which was regularly grazed by animals was thriving? I found the picture almost hard to believe but it was true. Plants and animals need each other.

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