On a related note, which ties into our vegetarian discussion, Jared Diamond writes:
"The remaining example considers Australia's agricultural production of the greenhouse gases carbon monoxide and methane. That's an especially serious problem for Australia, because global warming (thought to result in large degree from greenhouse gases) is breaking down the pattern of reliable winter rains that turned the wheat grown in southwestern Australia's wheat belt into Australia's single most valuable agricultural export. The carbon dioxide emissions from Australian agriculture exceed those produced by motor vehicles and all the rest of the transport industry. Even worse are cows, whose digestion produces methane, 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide in causing global warming. The simplest way for Australia to fulfill its stated commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions would be to eliminate its cattle!"
COLLAPSE, page 415
In another part of COLLAPSE, Diamond relates that the current political leadership of the Australian State have a strategic population goal of 50 million. Diamond argues that a population of 8 million is all which is sustainable at the current Australian standard of living.
On a final note, there was a Reuters story published recently which claimed that millions of Africans will die as a result of global warming in the coming years. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060515/sc_nm/environment_climate_africa_dc;_ylt=Ai5DZeOi7XXj06cL58hQVvYHcggF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjMHVqMTQ4BHNlYwN5bnN1YmNhdA--
Political problem? I think so.
Regards, Mike B)
Read "Penguins in Bondage": http://happystiletto.blogspot.com/
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