SAVE THE PLANET, BECOME A VEGETARIAN .

Should we all turn towards vegetarianism to prevent the imminent global warming catastrophe, unfortunately it may be too late. During the next decade with rising world temperatures we could experience :- increased frequency and intensity of storms, hurricanes, floods and droughts, increased frequency of forest fires, melting glaciers and polar ice , rising sea levels, hundreds of millions of environmental refugees, the climate change will threaten our health , malaria , asthma, encephalitis, tuberculosis, leprosy and measles are all expected to become more common For years scientists and researchers have been warning us of worldwide disasters due to global warming , it may not effect this generation but you have been warned these things could happen , and may have already started. Climate models show that atmospheric temperatures will increase by between 1.5C and 4.5C by the year 2100 if a "wait and see and do nothing" approach is adopted. Because of thermal expansion of the water and melting of continental glaciers sea levels would rise, possibly as much as 0.6 meters (two feet), by the end of the next century, resulting in the permanent flooding of vast areas of heavily populated lands, the additional fresh water dumped into the Atlantic could switch off the Gulf stream making Ireland as cold as Spitsbergen a city well within the arctic circle. At the 160-nation climate summit held in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997, industrialized countries agreed to cut emissions of Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), and Nitrous oxide , the main problem gasses to below 1990 levels within 10 to 14 years. They are still arguing over how to make the cuts , governments and indeed their voters have not really bothered to do much about global warming and to a large extent its a wait and see and do nothing policy. Who are the big polluters? We all contribute to the vast amounts of CO2 gas mainly from burning fossil fuels. Our unrestricted use of energy contributes to the ever increasing emissions. Huge amounts of Methane are produced from Coal mining , China, the former Soviet Union and the United States combined produces two-thirds of the world's methane emissions from coal, this is not from burning coal, but mining it . Domestic animals kept for food, currently account for about 15 percent of the annual methane emissions. Methane versus Carbon Dioxide Global Carbon dioxide emissions from industrial and domestic uses are estimated at 7 billion tons this is added to the 750 billion tons already in the atmosphere, 4 billion tons of this will be absorbed by plants , marine life , and the oceans , each year the CO2 in the atmosphere increases by 3 billion tons . Thankfully the oceans seem to have a limitless capability to absorb and hold CO2 . Carbon Dioxide held in the oceans is estimated at 35 Trillion tons . Methane :- It has been estimated the total annual global production is somewhere between 400 to 600 million tons , this is equivalent to 36 Billion tons of CO2 , domestic animals mainly cattle , sheep , camels and goats , contribute approximately 65 to 85 million tons . Methane is also produced from land-fill sites , but these take some years to produce large quantities of the gas. As a greenhouse gas methane is 20 to 60 times more potent than carbon dioxide, it remains in the atmosphere for about 15 years then breaks down into Carbon dioxide ! Methane is not absorbed by the oceans . Since the early to mid-1800's, the amount of Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased by about 25 per cent whereas Methane concentrations have risen by about 150 per cent. Methane is currently the second largest contributor to global warming, (Carbon Dioxide being number one) but levels of Methane are rising at a rate of 1% per year, which is faster than the rate CO2 increases.

Governments concentrate on CO2 reductions mainly by bigger and bigger fuel taxes, but many believe that Methane emissions would be the better target all be it harder for the public to swallow. So the question really is, could we globally, stop using ruminant domestic animals for food , shut down all the coal mining and land-fill operations , thus saving the equivalent of 12 years Carbon dioxide pollution , it would go a long way to controlling the greenhouse effect or shall we wait and see and do nothing .