our diets and, specifically, the meat in them cause more greenhouse gases to spew into the atmosphere

than either transportation or industry current production levels of meat contribute between 14 and 22 percent of the 36 billion tons of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gases the world produces every year producing half a pound of hamburger for someones lunch releases as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere as driving a 3,000-pound car nearly 10 miles cows emit between 2.5 and 4.7 ounces of methane for each pound of beef they produce, the equivalent of releasing between 3.6 and 6.8 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere for each pound of beef produced producing a pound of beef in a feedlot, or concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) system, generates the equivalent of 14.8 pounds of CO2

The food industry has been known to be expensive to the environment with large impacts on both ecosystems and the air. By far, the most polluting product to farm in the food industry is cows. Cows have been known to require large amounts of feed, which require input themselves. This can leads to more produced greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere just to feed the cow. The cow itself also produces greenhouse gasses during the growth period. One cow can produce between 2.5 and 4.7 pounds of methane for each pound of beef they produce. This can add up to where one patty for one sandwich produced the equivalent amount of greenhouse gasses that driving a 3000 pound car for ten miles would produce. The food industry produces many of our currently known pollutants. Some products produced in the food industry are more costly than others. The most consequential product throughout the food industry is cows. These cows produce large amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas that is roughly 23 times as potent as carbon dioxide. The cows produce around the equivalent of 3.6 to 6.8 pounds of carbon dioxide for each pound of beef produced in their lifetime. The solution to this issue is to reduce the wastes by effective management, like methane capturing systems in CAFOs. Another solution is to change our diets to reduce the demand for beef in our society, requiring less to be produced. So What? This information is important because it show how impactful cows are to the air pollution issue. What if? If this information was not published, then the true impact of cows would not have been noted. Says Who? This information was displayed by a student aiming for a doctorate in economics. What Does This Remind Me of? This article reminded me of the movie where all of the items in grocery stores were shown for their full cost, including environmental impacts.