What Would You Do About Climate Change?

[grumbler]

As an aside from this discussion, in a book about sustainability and everyday life that I bought some years ago (so not exactly cutting edge anymore) they put forward another related topic as a hook for attention, and that's pets. This is an article about the book that I've just googled:

Save the planet: time to eat dog?

The eco-pawprint of a pet dog is twice that of a 4.6-litre Land Cruiser driven 10,000 kilometres a year, researchers have found.

Victoria University professors Brenda and Robert Vale, architects who specialise in sustainable living, say pet owners should swap cats and dogs for creatures they can eat, such as chickens or rabbits, in their provocative new book Time to Eat the Dog: The real guide to sustainable living.

The couple have assessed the carbon emissions created by popular pets, taking into account the ingredients of pet food and the land needed to create them.

"If you have a German shepherd or similar-sized dog, for example, its impact every year is exactly the same as driving a large car around," Brenda Vale said.

"A lot of people worry about having SUVs but they don't worry about having Alsatians and what we are saying is, well, maybe you should be because the environmental impact ... is comparable."

In a study published in New Scientist, they calculated a medium dog eats 164 kilograms of meat and 95kg of cereals every year. It takes 43.3 square metres of land to produce 1kg of chicken a year. This means it takes 0.84 hectares to feed Fido.

They compared this with the footprint of a Toyota Land Cruiser, driven 10,000km a year, which uses 55.1 gigajoules (the energy used to build and fuel it). One hectare of land can produce 135 gigajoules a year, which means the vehicle's eco-footprint is 0.41ha – less than half of the dog's.

They found cats have an eco-footprint of 0.15ha – slightly less than a Volkswagen Golf. Hamsters have a footprint of 0.014ha – keeping two of them is equivalent to owning a plasma TV.

Professor Vale says the title of the book is meant to shock, but the couple, who do not have a cat or dog, believe the reintroduction of non-carnivorous pets into urban areas would help slow down global warming.

"The title of the book is a little bit of a shock tactic, I think, but though we are not advocating eating anyone's pet cat or dog there is certainly some truth in the fact that if we have edible pets like chickens for their eggs and meat, and rabbits and pigs, we will be compensating for the impact of other things on our environment."

Professor Vale took her message to Wellington City Council last year, but councillors said banning traditional pets or letting people keep food animals in their homes were not acceptable options.

Kelly Jeffery, a Paraparaumu german shepherd breederwho once owned a large SUV, said eliminating traditional pets was "over the top".

"I think we need animals because they are a positive in our society. We can all make little changes to reduce carbon footprints but without pointing the finger at pets, which are part of family networks."

Owning rabbits is legal anywhere. Local bodies allow chickens, with some restrictions.

YOUR PET'S MARK

The eco-footprints of the family pet each year as calculated by the Vales:

German shepherds: 1.1 hectares, compared with 0.41ha for a large SUV.

Cats: 0.15ha (slightly less than a Volkswagen Golf). Hamsters: 0.014ha (two of them equate to a medium-sized plasma TV).

Goldfish: 0.00034ha (an eco-finprint equal to two cellphones).

I loathe "scientists" who report this kind of "scientific study."  The measure of "eco footprint" isn't in how much land it takes to produce 1 KG of chicken and how much an it takes to feed a pet, nor can you compare the amount of agricultural land needed to feed a pet with the amount of mysterious land that can "produce 135 gigajoules a year."  Cars don't run on agricultural products, and the eco problem isn't how much land is used for various purposes, but how much CO2 is emitted by various kinds of consumption.

And how many cars are driven a mere 10k kilometers per year, especially in a spread-out country like Australia?  Could it be that they chose this number because it gave them the answer they wanted?  Survey says "yes."

Bullshit science from bullshit scientists trying to push an agenda don't help their supposedly actual cause at all.  It just discredits real science from real scientists.

[Brazen]

My major contribution to ameliorating climate change isn't on the list - not having children. Helps me sleep on the half-dozen overseas flights I take for work every year to research articles I definitely couldn't do over the phone...

[Maladict]

Goldfish: 0.00034ha (an eco-finprint equal to two cellphones).

Offering a free phones to kids on the condition they eat their goldfish would totally work.

[The Minsky Moment]

Apparently land spontaneously generates massive amounts of energy.  Which means ???? ---> eat your dog ---> ??? --> profit(?)

[Brazen]

Cut out the middleman and eat children.

[Iormlund]

And how many cars are driven a mere 10k kilometers per year?

I need to up my emission game.

[mongers]

And how many cars are driven a mere 10k kilometers per year?

I need to up my emission game.

Plenty in the UK iirc the average mileage per capita is around 6500 miles, around that figure, though obviously with the caviate it being per capita

[mongers]

Six million hectares now burnt, that's 6-7 times greater than the Amazon fires last year.

A Sydney suburb was the hottest place on earth today, temperatures well into the mid-40s degrees.

[Tamas]

If I burn 4 gallons of petrol a week, how many children should I NOT have to feel good about myself? Is there also a not-born children to eaten dogs exchange ratio, so that if I do end up with a kid I know how many dogs I should consume to make up for it?

[mongers]

If I burn 4 gallons of petrol a week, how many children should I NOT have to feel good about myself? Is there also a not-born children to eaten dogs exchange ratio, so that if I do end up with a kid I know how many dogs I should consume to make up for it?

[CdM]

Just make your bio-diesel out of beets and you'll be good to go.

[/CdM]

[grumbler]

And how many cars are driven a mere 10k kilometers per year?

I need to up my emission game.

Nice dishonest quote thing you have going on there. 

[grumbler]

Plenty in the UK iirc the average mileage per capita is around 6500 miles, around that figure, though obviously with the caviate it being per capita

In 2015 the UK average per vehicle was about 12.5k kilometers/year.  In Australia in 2013 it was 15.5k.  Using 10k as the baseline still seems dishonest to me, even if there is some fraction of cars (more in the UK than Australia) that travel only that distance.

[Syt]

Meanwhile Australian continues to burn:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-50971879

Auckland, NZ, 2600 km away.

[The Brain]

Ah yes, the distant massive fire filter. Smooth.

[Syt]

More here: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12298143&ref=clavis