I just got a CO2 meter and checked the levels in my house and went down a rabbit hole trying to address the issue. Apparently it would take 249 areca palms to offset the carbon RESPIRATION of one adult.

So okay 249 trees just for me to breathe, not to mention the rest of the bad things we all do.

So how can this math ever balance? 249 trees just to break even seems like an impossible number. Then all the flights I have been on, miles driven, etc.

I feel like that’s… Way too many trees. Is it hopeless or am I missing something?

  • Hillock@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    No one is complaining about the carbon a cow is breathing in and out. It’s the methane they produce, which is a very potent greenhouse gas, about 80 times the warming power.

    • mister_monster
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      1 year ago

      Methane has a half life of 8 years, and is produced from carbon dioxide and water, specifically it is produced into carbohydrates by plants which are then broken down into methane by certain bacteria in animal digestive systems. It degrades back into carbon dioxide and water through oxidization very quickly in the atmosphere. It’s effect on global warming is miniscule compared to carbon dioxide, by measure of the volume of each produced and their persistence in the atmosphere. Methane is a non issue, and is easily made up for by the fact that cows, and the humans that eat them, are carbon sinks also. Imagine if you stopped cattle production and destroyed all those cattle to stop them from creating methane, how much carbon dioxide do you think they’d create as they biodegrade? This would have a significant impact on warming, way way more than the methane does. The existence of cattle (and any and all biomass in general since they’re all carbon sinks) is a net positive for warming, by far.

        • mister_monster
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          1 year ago

          Just no huh.

          The article you link shows carbon dioxide having a stronger impact on warming than methane in aggregate, which is what I’m talking about and what matters.

          • meco03211@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Methane in the Earth’s atmosphere is a powerful greenhouse gas with a global warming potential (GWP) 84 times greater than CO2 in a 20-year time frame.

            You were crying about people bemoaning the impact of cows breathing. You were wrong.

            • mister_monster
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              1 year ago

              potential. Do you even understand what you’re citing? There are graphs in the article if words are hard. Do you know what radiative forcing is? You should read about it.

              • Skua@kbin.social
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                1 year ago

                The fact that you are isolating the word “potential” suggests that you don’t realise what “global warming potential” actually is. It’s a measurement for comparing the effect of greenhouse gases to carbon dioxide, not the top of an error bar

                • mister_monster
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                  1 year ago

                  I understand this, but it’s a comparison between the two compounds, not a comparison of the effect each are having at the volumes they get released.

                  Cows uptake a lot of carbon dioxide just by existing as biomass. This more than offsets any methane they fart out.