Every Person Emits Two Tons of Carbon Dioxide a Year Through Eating, Spanish Study Finds
By: Kristi Rice
A new study by researchers in Spain finds that every person emits the equivalent of approximately two tons of carbon dioxide a year from the time food is produced to when the human body excretes it.
A new study by researchers in Spain finds that every person emits the equivalent of approximately two tons of carbon dioxide a year from the time food is produced to when the human body excretes it.
A team of researchers in Spain did research on the Spanish diet and found out that we play a part of the cycle of food; this is the first time that it has ever been tested with human excrements. Iván Muñoz main author and researcher said,"food in Spain produces emissions of around two tonnes of carbon dioxide per person and per year more than 20% of total emissions per person and per year.” This study showed the relationship of food production and consumption with global warming and excess of nutrients. The data that they got was that getting food from animals (meat and dairy) had the most impact, and for the greatest souce of carbon dioxicide it was fishing, agricultural and livestock. Our excretion is a major part of polluting water. In this article they also make a point that it is not so bad returning some of the waste water because it can add nutrients. In the end people do not have an effect of the global warming at least by eating, and that we contribute to water pollution by nitrate and phosphorus. When I first read the title I was intrigued by it because it was something different and yet it somehow had to do with recycling and waste. I never knew how much CO2 we put into the air by eating. It is an interesting fact to learn about.I think that it was an good thing to learn about. Also it was a good to learn about a different type of doing an experiment. After having our water hydrosphere unit I am not surprised in learning that we are a big contributor to water pollution. I am glad to know that I am not affecting the earth by eating food.
Question
1. What do you think about this article? (Personal opinion)
2. Do you think this is worth knowing or not? Explain what you think.
3. How accurate do you think this research is because they only studied people that live in Spain and that have a diet of 881 kilograms? Why do you think this.
Personally, I think that this article is very interesting and gives a lot of information I would have never thought to be true before. I find it pretty weird that we are contributing to water pollution through our excretion just by eating. This seems like it could turn into a bigger problem because there is more and more food being produced and eaten nowadays. I think that the biggest issue would be that we can't exactly do that much directly to help prevent this. Sure, if everyone cut down on all the food they ate then it would help, but that's not really a realistic idea.
ReplyDelete3) I think this research is accurate for those who live in Spain and have a diet of 881 kilograms, but would be different for those who don't. So, this information may be a little inaccurate in representing everyone. However, I think that if this is the average amount that most people eat per day then it should be close enough. Of course, there are always people who eat a lot less than that and a lot more, but taking the averae would represent everyone the best. I also think that this study should be conducted in other countries or at least continents since the food people eat varies throughout the entire world and may be a contributing factor to the results.
A few questions I had were:
1) Has there been any major response on this problem yet, or are most people just brushing it off?
2) How much waste is this compared to other carbon dioxide pollutions?
3) Do you think that this is something that should be farther looked into, or is it not a huge problem yet?
Here's another website and a graphic to look at for more information:
Site - http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-11/f-sf-epe110210.php
This website says that many rivers have a low water level and are unable to absorb the waste water.
Graphic - http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-11/f-sf-epe110210.php
This is a picture of different foods that can contribute to this problem.
Reflection:
ReplyDeleteThis article really surprised me and caught my attention. I find it very interesting yet shocking that we contribute to the pollution of water just by eating food. I wonder how we will be able to prevent this since we must eat. This is a large problem in my eyes because there are already enough factors that contribute to water pollution, and hearing about another one just worsens the issue. This is especially serious because I doubt that there is anyway to prevent this, since we must eat, and I wonder how we are going to fix this. I hope we find a solution in the near future, so our water will be a little less polluted. If we fix this problem, we can go from there and then possibly solve the other issues that are affecting our water.
3)I think that this research is somewhat accurate, but not entirely because they only measured a small, specific sample. However, this could be similar for other people in other places, or could be showing us that this is what eventually may happen in other countries. However, overall, I do not think this is helpful to us because it is such a small and specific sample.
Here is a similar article/problem:
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetarianvegan101/f/waterpollution.htm
This is a very interesting article. I had never really thought about it before, but it makes sens that we exert carbon dioxide when we eat. It is also good to know that we are not contributing to air pollution by doing something as simple as eating. It's something that we have to do multiple times every day in order to live. It would be kind of ironic if doing something necessary to keep living was polluting the air, which would harm us. Despite that, I don't think it's a particularly important thing to know. However, if the carbon dioxide we produce from eating was in fact polluting the air, my position on that would be different.
ReplyDeleteI like the new background!!! Great article, and good comments.
ReplyDelete