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ClimateQuiet 12d · day 12

Our World in Data examines methane metrics in food carbon footprints

Research challenges how greenhouse gas accounting treats methane's shorter atmospheric lifetime versus CO2.

newest coverage 12d agosummary written 11d ago2 pieces239 likes & upvotes14 comments MastodonBluesky

What to know

  • Beef and lamb produce substantially higher greenhouse gas emissions than chicken, pork, or plant-based foods when measured using standard carbon dioxide-equivalence metrics.
  • Methane, which dominates emissions from red meat and dairy, has high short-term warming impact but shorter atmospheric persistence than CO2, raising questions about whether standard 100-year accounting adequately represents its climate effect.
  • Researchers including Oxford's Dr Michelle Cain are developing alternative metrics like GWP* that account for methane's shorter lifetime and may alter conclusions about which foods have the largest climate footprint.

Our World in Data Research and data analysis organizationDr Michelle Cain Researcher, University of Oxford Martin SchoolMyles Allen Researcher, University of Oxford Martin School

Our World in Data examines methane metrics in food carbon footprints
ourworldindata.org

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage posts

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Oct 31Nov 1Nov 2Nov 3Nov 4Nov 5Nov 6Nov 7Nov 8Nov 9yesterdaynow · 7:32 PM ET
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    “Beef and lamb, in particular, have much higher greenhouse gas emissions than chicken, pork, or plant-based alternatives.”
    — Our World in Data

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