While passing gas is usually considered a simple social passé for humans, cow burps are notorious for producing much more than a foul smell—they produce a gas that is terrible for the environment.
Thankfully, a new garlic-based dietary supplement given to cows has been shown in two different studies to reduce the methane content in cow belches by 30%–38%, which could help reduce the 2.6% of American greenhouse gas volume produced from cattle ranching.
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) that traps heat in the atmosphere 25 times more effectively than CO2, according to the EPA and the IPCC.
Unlike CO2, which represents more than 80% of America’s GHGs, methane only stays in the atmosphere for 12 years, which means the supplements would take only a few years to begin having a measurable effect.