Tasty Seaweed Reduces Cows’ Methane Emissions by 99%

Man - cows eating seaweed is no more natural than cows eating corn. We need to stop bastardizing natural systems for our own comfort and convenience.

I agree, we need to slowly study other groups of cows to see if this is a viable solution.

I'm reading Factfulness by Hans Rosling at the moment. He had a great point about "single numbers" - the jist was to always be skeptical of just a single number or metric.

Here's an example [1]. During WWII, soliders were dying in their own vomit because they were laying prone on the battlefield, in sick beds, etc and left unattended. Doctors tried using the Recovery Position [2] and saw a decrease in those types of deaths by about 99% (this is in the book).

Sounds like it should work for other types of people, right? First aid organizations quickly updated their "best recommendations" for all types of people: sick, drunk, young, old. This position was the best possible position for increased airway access, thereby decreasing preventable patient deaths.

It wasn't until the 1980's that this idea was challenged. A few health organizations noticed an increase in infant deaths. Hong Kong's group was the first to investigate this [3]. Other groups joined in and realized that infants, when turned on their stomach, do not have the strength to tip their heads after they vomit. As a result, infant deaths increase when they are placed into the Recovery Position.

The recommendation was quickly updated in the late 1980's / early 1990's. Now the recovery position is recommended for people ages 5 and up.

Between 1940 - 1985, there was a larger number of infant deaths because one group of well-meaning people took some knowledge they gained for one group and quickly applied it to all other groups.

I think this study (cows reducing methane based on diet) is a great idea. But we need to be cautious about applying this quickly to all cows, else we could kill half the cow population and cause the cost of beef to skyrocket.

[1]: https://www.gapminder.org/factfulness-book/notes/, Page 163.

[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recovery_position

[3]: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2866397?dopt=Abstract

I always thought that part of problem with huge methane emission from livestock maybe due to what we feed them. Perhaps their stomachs are not meant to eat primarily grass and the types of plants we typically allow them to eat.

Maybe other types of plants and crops should be fed instead.

I don't think it's as simple as you're making it out to be—not universally, anyway. Diet and nutrition are also complex systems—moreso for some of us in the population. I've written this out a number of times before so I'm just going to link my last comment on the subject.

I feel the need to speak up for people with similar conditions for whom simply cutting out a crucial part of our diet is not resolved.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20635612

Seriously? It's hard for me to picture cows wandering on a sandy beach. But, if true, I stand corrected - to a certain degree. Thanks.