Flatulence + Firefighting: How Cows Affect Colorado’s Environment
Whichever way you slice it, cows are a pretty big source of food for human beings all over the world. Even if a person doesn't consider themself to be omnivorous, a trip to the grocery store is impossible without walking past some kind of product that originally came from a cow.
However, cows have a pretty big role in not just what Coloradans eat and drink, but the environment of the state as a whole.
Keep scrolling to learn more about the fascinating ways that cows affect the environment in Colorado.
Cows and Colorado's Environment: Fighting Fires
Believe it or not, a new study has shown that cows actually help prevent wildfires in the state of Colorado. In fact, a ranch on Shanahan Ridge near Boulder has been benefitting from cows eating grass that could potentially become fuel for a wildfire for the past nine years.
The study shows that the areas in which the cows graze are significantly less likely to catch fire than the areas that don't see any activity from the animals.
However, cows aren't always such a good thing when it comes to Colorado's environment.
Cows and Colroado's Environment: Greenhouse Gassy
An old Wive's Tale has been passed down for years regarding the supposed large amount of methane gas produced by flatulence from cows, and while that does happen, the majority of the greenhouse gas that comes from bovines is actually in the form of belching.
According to NASA, the methane that comes out both ends of the cow, but primarily the mouth, is a byproduct of something called enteric fermentation; a process of the body converting sugar to be absorbed into the animal's bloodstream.