Good news for climate change: Australian scientists to breed sheep that burp less
Last updated 12/2/2009 6:57:18 PM
Good news for climate change - Australian scientists to breed sheep that burp less
They would look as white as usual sheep - but green in every other way and be very polite too. Australian scientists hope to breed sheep that burp less as part of efforts to tackle climate change.
Australia's Sheep Cooperative Research Council estimates 66% of agricultural emissions are released as methane from the gut of its livestock. They've been trying to identify a genetic link that causes some sheep to belch less than others.
About 16% of Australia's greenhouse emissions come from agriculture. Burping, would you believe, is a far greater cause of emissions than flatulence.
The New South Wales-based research team has been conducting experiments in specially designed pens where they measure how much gas sheep emit by burping.
In tests on 200 sheep so far, it's been found that the more they eat, the more they belch. The scientists' goal in the long term is to breed sheep that produce less methane, which produces many times more global warmingthan carbon dioxide.
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