I like Anthony Watt's picture.

http://wattsupwiththat.wordpress.com/2008/05/10/your-tax-dollars-at-work-bovine-tailpipe-intervention/

"take out some of those horrible gypsy moth caterpillars "

In the early 80's my parents WHITE house was literally BLACK (no exageration) from all of the gypsy moth caterpillars. It was disgusting. You couldn't walk outside without them falling on you.
Reply: Wow, and I thought we had it bad.

I'm sorry Brett, but you still don't get it.

Here's the AGW mantra to repeat until it is footprinted in your brain:

1) Rising temps are due to Global warming
2) Falling temps are due to global warming
3) Stable temps are due to global warming
4) More storms are due to global warming
5) fewer storms are due to global warming
6) more intense storms are due to global warming
7) less intense storms are due to global warming
8) more rain is due to global warming
9) less rain is due to global warming
and finally

10) in some cases earthquakes are due to global warming.

It's interesting to note that cattle don't produce methane from flatulence, but from belching. Well, maybe that's interesting if you're in arrested development.

Let's find out of this really works and if it's cost-effective before we dive into it headfirst like we did with ethanol. Does the new grass increase or decrease methane emissions from cattle? Does the breed of cattle matter? And heaven forbid, this new grass isn't a GMO, is it?

BTW: Kangaroos apparently don't pass methane gas. Researchers in Australia are working to make cattle do likewise using a bacteria found in kangaroos' guts

wow largest decline in USA temps ever recorded? (see april 2008)
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/mtd.accum.temps.txt
-11.97!

In this rush to save the planet,
we are doing more harm than good

I hope this does not turn out as bad as bio-fool

I predict 'unintended consequences' will follow introduction of EU-accepted GMO crops and feedstocks.

By the way, it's May 12th and it was snowing on my drive into work this morning, here in central Pennsylvania. Reports of an inch of slushy snow nearby.

REPLY: AAAAUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!! THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS GLO-BULL WARMING!!!!!!!!!!!!....AAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!

DENY DENY DENY THE JUNK SCIENCE, POLITICALLY MOTIVATED, WANT TO TAX YOUR BREATHING GLO-BULL WARMING LIE!!!!!!

.....and in 10 years they discover that the cows need the gas producing grass for some digestive process we didn't understand or even know about and they are affected in a negative way.
Good idea?????
Who is testing this stuff before subjecting the cows to nonsense?
First do no harm.

First of it was snowing at my place to this morning but if not for cow burps imagine how bad it could have been. I am really really glad to see scientist taking the time to do research and come closer to solving this horrible crisis of cow burps, of all the problems in the world this is put near at the top of the list. Right above cancer, and right below the declining toad population. Also I'm not 100% sure about this I'll have to look it up, but in the newspaper a few weeks ago there was an article about a cool wet spring destroying gypsy moth eggs, so maybe something positive will come from all this cool, damp, cloudy, windy, miserable weather. I think it causes a fungus or something to break down or kill,destroy the eggs.

Really the big problem with raising cows/cattle is space which is getting increasingly harder to find. The damage these animals do to limited land is staggering and just providing enough grassland for them is for most out of the question. The big dairy barns don't even try to provide these creatures the luxury of roaming the hillside. They are stalled 24/7, milked 3-4 times daily and either stand or lay down all day. Terrible life. The least of my concerns is how much methane they put off when considering their conditions.

One major source of methane is wetlands. We've worked for the last few decades to increase wetlands and we're surprised that methane emissions are increasing?

A large source of man-made methane emissions come from rice paddies.

For those of you interested in the exact flatuence vs burp ratio of livestock, Wikipedia has the the following enlightenment:
Flatulence is often blamed as a significant source of greenhouse gases owing to the erroneous belief that the methane released by livestock is in the flatus. While livestock account for around 20% of global methane emissions, 90-95% of that is released by exhaling or burping. This means only 1�2% of global methane emissions come from livestock flatus.

Notice how HADCrut temp black line no longer follows red bars temp (quite amusing I find) LOL....
http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/data/temperature/nhshgl.gif
Of course this is a dead give away to the way they think (biased)At least there not fudging the actual temps (red bars)

Nice picture of how volcanic ash is affecting sunlight in Argentina.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/americas/features/article_1404951.php/In_photos_Ash_from_Chaiten_Volcano_Blankets_Parts_of_Argentina?page=5

and the corresponding temperature anomaly map.
http://web1.cdc.noaa.gov/map/ANIM/sfctmpmer_01a.fnl.28.gif

Rex,

"RE: largest decline in USA temps ever recorded"

Don't know if that's true (don't know that it's not either), but the April data is impressive.

P.S. The preferred term of art in these debates is 'unprecedented', not ' largest ever recorded'. Unprecedented provides just as much alarm inducing emotional response in your average reader while having the advantage of not being subject to pesky things like quantitative analysis.

Cattle, as we know them today, are pretty much a human construction. Genetically modified (the old fashioned way) by a thousands (Eeee) of years of selective breeding. There is no such thing as cows in the wild. Their natural environment is what humans provide. In an idyllic setting they will either be standing, or lying down (how horrible). In addition, in that lush green mountain meadow they are subject to attack by a whole host of natural predators from the large to the minute. Cows don't care. Cows will go where the food and water are and stay there. To project human emotions and thoughts onto cattle is nonsense and only serves to salve the guilt one might feel from looking into those big brown eyes and knowing that tomorrow or the next day, or the next, you're going to be digesting old Bossy's leg.

You're a carnivor, the Earths alph predator. Get over it.

All the best

Aaron

I think we shall have a grass that produce more methane too, in case of a little ice age. Then we let the cows eat pizza and Coke?

"Their natural environment is what humans provide. In an idyllic setting they will either be standing, or lying down (how horrible). In addition, in that lush green mountain meadow they are subject to attack by a whole host of natural predators from the large to the minute."

Sorry but you seemed to be misinformed. Cows survive much longer being allowed to romp around the barnyard which btw they often do. I am a Jersey gal and now a Wisconsin gal and have lived most of my life around the barnyard. Cows are in no immediate danger in most pastures. They huddle to keep the flies off and yes they often are lying down because of the body given them. Cows for the most part are not "athletic" like horses that cannot rest very long lying down due to their weight interfering with breathing, but most definitely enjoy the daily ritual of being called into the barn BY THEIR NAME. Many farmers I know have named all the ones they own. "Lassie" is in charge of getting the crew back into the barn to be milked. Those cows that are allowed to be animals and treated as a family member live a much long and better life. You might not want to hear that because the cow is not regarded as being very intelligent and so who cares. Actually I am not planning to eat the meat of a milking cow since it is of average to poor quality. Obviously Aaron you are not a small dairy farmer because they always speak affectionately of their cows and are concerned for their well being. A man is measured by how well he treats the animal world.

Kricki:
I appreciate your measured response to my (perhaps cynical) post. But I have what may be some surprising news for you (or not). If you eat tray packed ground beef from your local grocer there's more than a good chance that you're eating dairy beef. Perhaps even dairy beef with a name, because even a small dairy farmer with a heart and love for his animals has to do something with them when he's done using them for his own benefit.

And it's true what you say about cattle being under minimal threat these days in a pasture, but that's only because we've created an environment for them free from large predators (our competition). Bison are fit to survive in the open spaces, cattle are not.

And just so you don't think me a total cad I must say that I have a great appreciation for just how hard dairy farmers (large and small) work. I enjoyed very much my years on the farm...... in the slaughter houses.... not so much.

And, I agree that the most appealing way to raise cattle is in nice green pastures. There just isn't enough of that to go around. Also not enough people willing to do the work, and not enough Collie dogs.

Ciao

Aaron

BILL:
Everything now is part of the anthropocene era,so your assessment is correct. I also don't think you will leave a footprint in Brett's brain since your foot is so firmly stuck somewhere else. Brett studies this stuff for a living. What is your profession, comedian. Well I don't think you'll do as well as Don Rickles, your hero by default.
KIPP

Kipp, Let's tone it down a bit.