Many things are contributing to global warming such as private jets, wealthy people, privileged politicians, mining, massive factories and cars, but cow farts would be the last thing to pop into our heads. Most cows that are bred in the dairy and meat industry belch and blow enough wind to contribute between 160 and 320 liters of methane every day, reports WIRED. While much of the climate change debate focuses on reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, methane still accounts for 16% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change figures from 2015, two-thirds of which comes from human activities and livestock. What do we do? We stop gaseous cows from farting! 

Reduced emissions of harmful gases into the atmosphere are critical to the UK government meeting its legally binding pledge of net-zero emissions by 2050. Farting cows may be given "methane suppressants" to prevent them from breaking wind and contributing to global warming. It has been revealed that dairy cattle will be fed "compound feeds" containing additives to reduce digestive gas. Ministers intend to compel farmers to feed their cows these "compound feeds" because of the amount of methane cows emit into the atmosphere when they belch or fart, according to Mirror. 

According to the government's net-zero growth strategy, officials "anticipate the entry of high efficacy methane suppressing products to the UK market from 2025" and will investigate their use in dairy farms "at pace." "This will include the ambition to mandate the introduction of products with proven safety and efficacy in compound feeds for cattle as soon as practically possible in England," it added. This stinky move was invited by National Farmers’ Union President Minette Batters who told BBC1’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, "Food additives - probiotics - to make sure that cows are emitting less methane is a really good thing and it’s already online." The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs announced its initial consultation in August 2022 and said, "Cows and sheep are the main cause of methane emissions from farms. Introducing feed products that reduce methane to livestock diets may have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

Being against cow farts is, however, not new. According to a new study, burping and farting cows make butter production three and a half times as harmful to the environment as plant-based spreads, claims Mirror. The amount of carbon dioxide produced during the production of 212 plant-based kinds of margarine and 21 popular dairy kinds of butter was compared by scientists. They discovered that the primary source of greenhouse gases is the production of milk, a key ingredient in dairy butter. Nearly 40% of this is due to "enteric emissions," or methane produced by cows burping and breaking wind. Poor cows can't even fart peacefully.