The Greenhouse Hamburger By: Nathan Fiala

The meat humans eat cause more carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide than either transportation or industry Current production levels of meat makes up to 14 and 22 percent of the 36 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gases world produces every year One patty of meat (size of two decks of cards) = driving a 3,000 pound car nearly 10 miles Every food humans eat have environmental costs to it which includes transportation, refrigeration, and fuel for farming When comparing vegetables to meat, meat still causes more environmental problems than vegetables Each pound of meat, cows produce between 2.5 and 4.7 ounces of methane o Releases 3.6 and 6.8 pounds of CO2 per pound of beef More than 10 pounds of plant protein is needed for one pound of beef Cows waste can be used to generate electricity People can choose to change their diets

Beef may taste delicious, but one pound of beef produces between 2.5 and 4.7 ounces of methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas, which means that you contribute to global warming by eating cows. Even vegetables such as asparagus contributes to climate changes. One pound of asparagus is equivalent to driving 0.17 miles and produces 0.13 pound of carbon dioxide emission from a car. Most of the food we eat have environmental costs to it because before it got into your stomach, it needs to be transported, refrigerated and farmed. To help make light of this situation, people can use the wastes of the cows to be generated into electricity. I think this article is really interesting because it had many useful information that I did not know before. I did not know that one patty of meat is equivalent to driving a 3,000 pound car for nearly 10 miles. That is kind of scary to know that a patty of meat can cause that much greenhouse gas emissions.

So what? One pound of meat is equal to driving 9.81 miles = 7.4 pounds of CO2 emissions

Says who? Nathan Fiala

What if? What if people eat less meat? Then people will farm less cows leading to less methane and carbon emissions.

This reminds me of Since cows waste can be used to generate electricity, this reminds me of wastewater because wastewater can also be used to generate electricity.