Scientists have long known that cows are a huge source of the greenhouse gas methane, contributing up to four percent of emissions globally. But could there be a way to make cattle less — ahem — gassy? Animal scientist Ermias Kebreab talks through an ingenious solution to reduce methane-rich cow burps by feeding cattle something growing below the surface of the ocean: seaweed.
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Kamila Kadirova
March 24, 2022 at 3:15 pm
👌👏😉
Resha Negi
March 24, 2022 at 3:17 pm
It will help countries like India where small dairy farms are owned and it is their only source of livelihood.
Milk alternative is not normal here.
kinpatu
March 24, 2022 at 3:18 pm
This has very limited upside potential due to methane’s high turnover in the atmosphere. Better to support pasture raised cattle, which is a net carbon SINK when properly managed.
Greg Gary
March 24, 2022 at 7:43 pm
I’ve seen conflicting opinions on carbon sink properties of grass-fed – if you have any refs to studies not funded by the cattle folks I’d be hugely interested in hanging them!
Sandra Nosocialism
March 24, 2022 at 3:19 pm
Giant herds of buffalo used to roam across what is now the United States. Cows are not the problem. People are. Too many people. Too much consumption. We produce too much garbage. We eat too much. We use too much energy. We have been destroying the planet. Why are people having over 5 children in the family? Why is Biden pushing for people to not work at home when they can? Why do people feel the need to travel all over the world for vacation? 4% from cow burps? 🙄 People are disgusting.
Vica Raven
March 24, 2022 at 3:21 pm
Incredible! Hope this gets taken seriously; a true blessing.
Jinkyoung Kim
March 24, 2022 at 3:23 pm
So far I just thought that stopping eating beef and becoming a vegetarian is the the only way individuals can do for the climate change. But now I got a wider view of action to solve this problem. Thank you a lot. It is very interesting, impressed, and I am going to share this video with my GHG lab colleagues tomorrow!
Greg Gary
March 24, 2022 at 7:47 pm
Don’t forget that this doesn’t solve two other problems
1. The entire production sequence from crops ,feed and abattoir produces at least as much CO2 as the burps.
2. The water used to feed the huge crop needed to feed them, is literally decimating western aquifers & putting western US cities at legit risk of critical water shortages. At some point we are going to choose – beef & milk or water.
Oh and there are /lots/ of other ways to help 🙂
あずき
March 24, 2022 at 3:25 pm
now, i can’t understand what he spoke.
i am gonna hear this channel.
i hope that i can understand what they spoke.
(I’m sorry for i can’t English well.)
Bar Room Buddha
March 24, 2022 at 3:32 pm
CARBON FILTER BUTT PLUGS FOR COWS!
Sam Schmit
March 24, 2022 at 3:36 pm
I don’t think cows _can_ burp.
Kathy Piazza
March 24, 2022 at 4:56 pm
Yes they do!
Iron Maiden
March 24, 2022 at 5:54 pm
@Kathy Piazza An Aeroplane counteracts a cow burp by the millions.
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March 25, 2022 at 2:08 pm
Now available on watsap☝️
Nubia Alvarado
March 25, 2022 at 4:52 pm
I say any living thing with a stomach can definitely and probably should burp!
Sam Schmit
March 25, 2022 at 5:02 pm
@Nubia Alvarado Not all of them can, though. For example, horses’ esophagi can only push in one direction: down. Ergo, if they ate/drank anything that would otherwise make them vomit, then they might most likely die.
Adventures of a Skoolie named Lauren
March 24, 2022 at 3:46 pm
That’s it! Kill the cows and get rid of the water ! Gotta stop the natural existence of other life forms in an attempt to perpetuate our own…
Cows can’t naturally seek out seaweed… what happens in nature is natural… when will we stop trying to be so smart, yet ignorant?
Adventures of a Skoolie named Lauren
March 24, 2022 at 3:49 pm
It’s a win for the seaweed farmers and feed companies looking for a cheaper resource to use as filler, and charge more for a new and unique market trend. I say follow the money.
Family Williams
March 26, 2022 at 2:08 am
Eh, the amount of seaweed needed is so miniscule I would hardly call it a filler. A recent meta-analysis of studies I read listed a problem with high levels of iodine in milk when the supplementation levels reached 0.5% of the diet. It could absolutely be a boon to the seaweed industry though.
Noukz
March 24, 2022 at 3:52 pm
The best way to solve a problem is to address the cause, so you prevent it from happening. Cow digestive tracts have evolved to eat land grass, not sea grass. Of course they were burping methane because we were feeding them legumes and grain. And if seaweed is so amazing (which it is), why don’t WE eat it directly then, and bypass the livestock completely? Because this speech is not about solving the issue, it’s a greenwashing distraction.
Ligia Sommers
March 24, 2022 at 3:54 pm
🙏🏻✨ happy to hear they are cultivating seaweed instead of just harvesting what could cause an even bigger problem
Dang Ling Long
March 24, 2022 at 3:58 pm
I guess it’s a good thing we genocided the North American Buffalo otherwise we’d all be dead by now.
CMDR After Hours
March 24, 2022 at 4:00 pm
Keep pounding that propaganda. We’ll keep spreading truth. Cow farts and cow burps… what’s next? These are the same people who said the earth would be frozen over by now, look it up. Think for yourself, do your own research and stop supporting the new world order agendas.
THATMOFODIRT
March 24, 2022 at 4:18 pm
The climate has been changing for billions of years. Are we the cause? I don’t think so. Maybe it’s the axis of the Earth, solar flares, volcanic activity, and forces way beyond our control, which cause the majority of climate events, not people. Follow the money bc it’s a scam.
justaperson
March 24, 2022 at 4:22 pm
it’s 2022. stop eating exploited animals’ body parts.
John BEE
March 24, 2022 at 4:22 pm
Excellent news. Would like to see the results of other types of seaweeds and their impacts
Rae Augustus
March 24, 2022 at 4:51 pm
What’s next? Whats farting got to do with air pollut…
Wait…
Lucia Grillo
March 24, 2022 at 5:01 pm
Ok I have a better idea: why don’t we just stop eating animals
Iron Maiden
March 24, 2022 at 5:52 pm
Stop the nonsense. The Earth counteracts everything. It has for Millions of years. Long before the 100 years we decided we think we know it all.
Jh5578
March 24, 2022 at 5:58 pm
Ffs stop being so pathetic and just take cows off the menu. Even with seaweed it’s devastating for the environment due to land use, eutrophication, habitat destruction, species extinction etc. If you’re talking about poor countries where they don’t have adequate nutrition and only eat a little amount of animal products that’s one thing, but this research will primarily be used to produce cheeseburgers for obese and overweight people in developed nations. 2030 to scale this process and cattle farmers saying 2050 until they neutralise GHGs… too late. 🤦🏽♂️
Lab meat will bankrupt this whole industry in developed nations by the 2030s anyway.
Greg Gary
March 24, 2022 at 7:37 pm
Great news as far as it goes – now if we can just get cows & the crops it takes to grow their feed, from decimating western aquifers & placing the entire western US in legit danger of critical water shortages, long before the climate could kill us.
Bit of a downer I know, but there it is
As for plant based diets – I’m not even a vegan never mind WFPB but there is a growing population that are, and who get perfectly acceptable B12 & A from proper diet construction & where necessary, supplements. There is no reason that can’t happen almost anywhere.
I also question the 4% emissions number – when the entire production chain is counted it is meaningfully higher, none of which is addressed by burp suppression.
All in all I really want to know who funded these studies.
Family Williams
March 26, 2022 at 2:04 am
Most of the western US grows food crops for humans (think of all the orchards), not cattle. that’s mostly grown in Midwest “corn belt” though I agree that it needs addressed. I recently saw a very interesting business that was using hydroponics to grow wheat grass for dairy cattle year round. They used 90% less water and ran off of solar panels. The system was almost completely automated.
Greg Gary
March 26, 2022 at 8:27 am
@Family Williams I’m for any progress of course – I watched a documentary on water shortages in the west, it was pretty clear that growing feed was a significant problem for the western aquifers. I don’t recall specific numbers , I’ll watch again just to see
Greg Gary
March 24, 2022 at 7:50 pm
I’ll reiterate – given all the problems NOT addressed by this talk or plan, I really want to know who funded this study. It matters. It feels very much like green washing.
Ermias Kebreab
March 25, 2022 at 7:05 pm
Funded through philanthropy and federal government
Greg Gary
March 25, 2022 at 8:11 pm
@Ermias Kebreab thanks for that, you can understand I hope that specifics would be core to the purpose of the question, for example who in the govt & who’s the giver(s). Any links or refs wud be appreciated 🙂
Family Williams
March 26, 2022 at 2:00 am
@Greg Gary I’ve seen a lot of research along these lines coming out of California universities as well. Unrelated studies that have had very similar results, so there hasn’t been any issue with repeatability. I think one of my local universities has also worked on it with similar results as well.
Greg Gary
March 26, 2022 at 8:28 am
@Family Williams that’s helpful thank you
James Lang
March 24, 2022 at 10:23 pm
Those pesky humans and their increasing of animal life and trees on the planet
Debra Lynn Paxton
March 25, 2022 at 2:24 am
This is certainly a more plausible and acceptable scenario and solution/action plan than lab-grown-meat, or, forcing everyone to go Vegan. Thank you for presenting the results of your experiments.
donkeee farms
March 25, 2022 at 3:11 am
This is bull.
Wendy Izedonmwen
March 25, 2022 at 7:32 am
I love this research TEDTalk
Junu Jeong
March 25, 2022 at 11:53 am
Hmm hopefully they can do it right so the cultivation process and transportationdistribution of the seaweed is not going to cancel out the reduction in methane emissions…
Family Williams
March 26, 2022 at 2:06 am
I am very interested in trying to combine seaweed and land based shellfish production together for this reason. I love shrimp, but they are very messy animals. If I can clean up their effluent by growing algae for dairy cows, then I can also feel much better about my love for milk and cheese too.
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March 26, 2022 at 8:01 pm
@Family Williams Text on What’sapp immediately ☝️💯
D.J.
March 25, 2022 at 2:17 pm
*the sphinx beats.
Bilgi Paylaştıkça Çoğalır
March 25, 2022 at 4:50 pm
This is a good effort to help reducing carbon emissions. Though there are lots of problems with animal industry. Land usage, agricultural land usage to feed animals, chemical pollution from the way we raise animals and land, excess antibiotic usage, animal abuse etc. These kind of solutions are small fixes to a bigger problem. It will make people eat their burgers with more relaxed mindset. Because we humans first believe, then find arguments to fit into our believes. I know this because I do this all the time.
Talibland
March 25, 2022 at 11:28 pm
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Kuah Lin Liang
March 26, 2022 at 2:11 pm
Can this work on pig too?
Mike Delima
March 28, 2022 at 12:24 am
One can have a healthy and joyful life with a plant-base diet only. Seaweed it’s not the Holy Grail. What about water consumption, deforestation, animal cruelty, and health problems? It’s not only about methane. Reduce meat and dairy products consumption helps to solve many other problems as well, besides CO2 and methane.
gzaos
March 29, 2022 at 6:18 am
plant base duet hmm talk about deforestation and water consumption…
Graciela Ortega
March 28, 2022 at 3:29 am
How about eating less meat?
Ameera Hamed
March 28, 2022 at 12:54 pm
I hope one day government stand to do it
sensei chailand
March 30, 2022 at 11:32 pm
Cultivating seaweed will solve the climate change. It seems small change but it improve climate change in the long term. Thank you for sharing idea!