People tend to believe that carbon dioxide is the only factor in global warming. Two examples of where carbon dioxide is emitted from are cars and factories. However, what you really need to be picturing right now is farting cows. No, you did not read that wrong. Although all greenhouse gases play roles in the increasing the rate of global warming, methane is the real culprit since it is a major factor.

As the population in America continues to grow, we can also see increased meat production and consumption; it is no wonder that cows are held responsible for up to twenty-five percent of the methane gas released in the U.S. each year. Yet, that is not the only place where methane is found. Methane could also be found through human activities, including the decomposition of wastes in landfills, agriculture, as well as ruminant digestion and manure management associated with domestic livestock, other than cows, due to the cheap food diet industries.

With the government turning a blind eye, it is no wonder that these large food industries are able to get away with what they are doing. In order to feed their domestic animals, food industries mass produce large fields of plants, such as corn. This, in addition to running their factories, causes a large percentage of carbon dioxide to be emitted. In fact, the U.S. food industry contributes up to twenty percent of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions, and is still, to this day, continuing to be supported. This high percentage is also due to the large amount of animals- as animals, like humans, also exhale carbon dioxide. In order to take care of the mass production of plants, many food industries use fertilizers and pesticides which bumps ups the carbon dioxide percentage by five to ten percent. Moreover, as these food industries continue to grow, they clear lands, such as forests, for their own personal gain. This destroys the earth’s natural way of limiting the large amounts of carbon emissions.

Although scientists theorize that if there is a widespread switch to vegetarianism, greenhouse emissions would be cut by nearly two-thirds, it is a hopeless case since, in this day and age. Advertisements and fast food places make meat cheaper than a healthy alternative, such as salad. So instead of jumping into a vegetarian or vegan diet, the least you can do is cut down on your meat consumption or advocate for a closer supervision of these out of control food industries. It is not just the cars killing us, it is our own diet.