Global warming from burping NZ sheep !!

by Azusa Yamashita
(Koenji, Tokyo, Japan)

New Zealand has a population of 3.8 million people, but is a large country for livestock. 46 million sheep and 9 million cattle have been breeding. According to the country's Ministry of the Environment, methane gas contained in the burps of farm animals, such as sheep and cattle, has become a major cause of global warming.

Methane (CH4) is a kind of global warming gas, and its influence is said to be strong next to carbon dioxide. Although this methane is emitted from various locations, because thriving livestock are found all across the country, a large proportion of methane gas comes from the burping sheep and cattle.

Various parties have studied how to prevent this methane. One way is to suppress the digestive bacteria in livestock that makes methane. So developers are producing grass that does not produce methane when it is digested.

The government has announced a global warming report which gives a serious blow to New Zealand. So they have reiterated their focus on research and development policy.

I'm surprised that global warming is affected by burps. Sheep should be cheerfully eating grass today, without having to worry about things like global warming.