Kvæg i de fattige lande får dårligere foder og er i ringere sundhedsstand end i f.eks. USA og Europa – resultatet er alarmerende høje tal for drivhusgasser, som stammer fra dyrenes metanholdige tarmluft – nyt studie overrasker forskerne.
JOHANNESBURG, 16 December 2013 (IRIN): Cattle bred for meat and dairy in some poor countries can emit (udlede) 100 times more earth-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) than those in rich countries for each kilogramme of protein (milk, meat) produced, says a new study.
The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), is the newest comprehensive (samlede) assessment of what cows, sheep, pigs, poultry (fjerkræ) and other farm animals are eating in different parts of the world; how efficiently they convert (omdanner) that feed into milk, eggs and meat; and the amount of greenhouse gases they produce.
Cattle in developing countries account for 75 percent of global emissions from those particular animals and 56 percent of the global emissions from poultry and pigs.
The higher greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries are driven by the animal’s consumption of poor-quality food, the quantity of this food consumed and the animal’s worse health.
The study was produced by scientists at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA).
Cattle breed for meat and dairy (kødkvæg og malkekvæg) worst sinners
Globally, the scientists found that cattle, bred both for beef or dairy, are the biggest source of greenhouse emissions from livestock (kvægdrift), accounting for 77 percent of the total. Pork and poultry account for only 10 percent of emissions.
The most important aspect of the study relates to the amount of feed livestock consume to produce 1 kg of protein, known as “feed efficiency,” and the amount of greenhouse gases released for every 1kg of protein produced, known as “emission intensity.”
Sub-Saharan Africa is identified as a global hotspot in terms of emissions.
Cattle grazing in the arid (karrige) lands of Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan, for example, can release the equivalent of 1.000 kg of carbon dioxide for every 1 kg of protein they produce, said a fact sheet provided by the research institutions.
By comparison, in many parts of the US and Europe, the emission intensity is around 10 kg for every 1 kg of protein.
Worse diets (dårligere foder), more gas
Læs videre på
http://www.irinnews.org/report/99343/cattle-in-poor-countries-produce-more-earth-warming-gases
