A Mighty Wind
By: Trevor Butterworth
Published:
Newsweek May 21, 2012
Picture:
This image shows what is accounting for 2
percent of greenhouse gases, flatulence of animals.
Summary: Three
British academics researched and found that it is possible that dinosaurs could
have put methane into the atmosphere with their burping and farting causing
changes in our climate. When an animal needs to digest plant material it
produces quite an accumulation of methane. So when a rather large animal, such
as a dinosaur, is constantly eating plants its produces very large amounts of
methane. It is estimated that dinosaurs produced between 500 and 600 million
tons of methane per year. John Whitlock,
a paleontologist at the University of British Columbia, states that the theory
is not unreasonable. However, he questions just how much of the climate change
is a result of flatulence of the dinosaurs in the Jurassic era. Today, cattle
are replacing the dinosaur’s methane production but are not producing nearly as
much.
Opinion/Reflection: I find it very interesting that
our climate change could have something to do with flatulent dinosaurs. We are constantly
being told that the change in climate is because of our use of cars polluting
the atmosphere, etc. This is true, but there are things that we have little or
no control over that are contributing to climate changes as well. What dinosaurs
did can’t be changed but we have to change our habits to accommodate for the
high amounts of methane in the atmosphere from millions of years ago.
Questions:
1.
Do you think there is validity to the theory
that dinosaur flatulence warmed the earth’s climate?
2.
What can help reduce the amount of pollution in
the air?
3.
Do you think we should add oregano or curry to
cow feed to minimize the emissions?
I find this to be very interesting. I really never thought that the gases released from flatulence can cause climate warming, but I guess the amount of gas adds up! Dinosaurs are very large animals so the amount of gas released is probably much larger than from humans. Also, they lived for several hundred million years! That means that about 1.8 quintillion metric tons of methane were produced during the time of the dinosaurs!
ReplyDeleteAnswering a Question:
1. There is definitely a validity to this theory. As I said before, dinosaurs were gigantic. Also, they lived for about 300 million years. So that is overall 1.8 quintillion metric tons of methane which is more than enough to warm the climate.
Opinion/ Reflection: I was shocked to read how much methane the dinosaurs produced over the years that they existed. I believe that people should reduce the amount of pollutants that they are putting in the air. A way that they could do this is use carpool if they are going to the same place as another person.
ReplyDeleteAnswer to question: 2. what can help reduce the amount of pollution in the air?
One way people can reduce the amount of pollution is to drive as little as possible. For example, if they have to go to a store that is down the street, instead of hopping in the car, they can walk to the store.
This article puts a fantastic light hearted spin on the climate change issue. I've actually read various articles that talked about the release of methane among cows on farms. I'm intrigued to hear about the impact dinosaurs made on our global climate through gases. It's humorous to hear that instead of complicated machinery emitting various toxic cocktails, flatulence was the cause of climate change. However, I believe that climate change was very slim if not nonexistent.
ReplyDeleteQuestion #3 It sounds like a very interesting idea! Apparently, both are very effective gas relievers. Would it be expensive to include those in a farms food supply? Also, I wonder if the cows would protest to eating food spiced with curry.
Question #1