Jim Frederickson, the research director at the Composting Association has called for data on worms and composting to be re-examined after a German study found that worms produce greenhouse gases 290 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Worms are being used commercially to compost organic material and is in preference to putting it into the landfill. The German government wants 45% of all waste to be composted by 2015.
"Everybody... thinks they can do no harm but they contribute to global warming. People are looking into alternative waste treatments but we have to make sure that we are not jumping from the frying pan into the fire," said Frederickson.
its really obvious why Arrakis is so hot and now the 'land of sand, home of the spice melange'. Soon we will have giant worms and be able to use the crap they produce to fold space.
Maybe Al could sell the worms carbon credits to alleviate their guilt. Besides, he needs the money.. even the salary of an overpaid "prophet" can't be enough to pay HIS electric bill.
Besides, the worms are probably all Republicans ;)
It has been said that all modern humans are descended from a wormlike creature, but it shows more on some people like Al Gore.
Let's not jump all over worms since without them life on earth could not exist. One worm "tills" and nourishes the land to the tune of two tons a year.
But imagine all the trillions of insects on earth, each passing gas...some more than others...take termites for example, they are among the worst. Among animals, cows and pigs lead the pack.
In my own family, my mother-in-law is among the world's leading culprit...yet, her gas bill is zero in the winter, so I guess she is doing her part. We need to think before we go overboard on all of this...oops, excuse me, I just farted...
Seriously, this guy was just trying to get his research funded. If you want to study anything, just hook it to global warming. "The effects of (fill in the blank) on global warming" or "Global warming's effect on (fill in the blank)".
Of course, worms are a vital part of ecology; soil turning and part of the food chain for birds. Maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to KCl or Agent Orange them just yet.
What I want to know is when are scientists going to implicate Bush and "republicans.com" for Global Warming?
Global warming, Al Gore and environmentalism are distractions. As the mass media creates climate illusions, Big Brother clamps down by opening our mail, suspending habeas corpus, stealing private lands, banning books like "America Deceived" from Amazon, rigging elections, conducting warrantless wiretaps and starting wars based on blatant lies. Soon, the sinking of an Aircraft Carrier(by Mossad) will occur and the US will 'retaliate' against Iran. Which AIPAC-lobbying country benefits from that? How much will the environment matter after a Nuke attack on Iran? Not much. Stop Iraq, Prevent Iran then work on the environment. Last link (before Stark County District Library bends to gov't Will and drops the title): http://www.iuniverse.com/
All Hail Worm Leader...And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground caves."
An inland sea stretched from the Gulf of Mexico into North Dakota during the Paleocene period, and not one Hummer dealer was located on either coast of it.
These worms are also converting the carbon in the compost to worm-flesh, preventing this carbon from entering the air as carbon dioxide. We should wait until a worm dies and then freeze the body (the worm-flesh). Storing this frozen body will prevent the carbon in the worm-flesh from ever entering the air again. My calculations show that 146 trillion pounds of frozen worm bodies would remove enough carbon from the air to allow everyone in the world to drive 100.000 miles in a brand new SUV!
"An inland sea stretched from the Gulf of Mexico into North Dakota during the Paleocene period, and not one Hummer dealer was located on either coast of it."
Plate tectonics and vulcanized activity are also sources of producing and opening vast pockets of C02 and even far worse Methane gas.
If you trace back the volcanic activity during and before an era of dramatic warming you'll notice a flurry of volcanic activity or geological events that release vast quantities of greenhouse gases.
During the Jurassic Period, a time of great warming, volcanic activity and vast pockets of green house gases were released into the atmosphere causing a warming period in which it took 150,000 years to return back to normal(avg) levels again. (http://en.wikipedia.org/)
Such a vast pocket of gas(methane) is believed to exist in the Siberia area of Russian that lies locked below the icy tundra. (source: http://www.ens-newswire.com/)
Those that think only Hummer's produce C02 should probably look into the issue a little more deeply.
Hummers we can control emissions of geothermal activity, not so much.
is interesting. Because it's not one of those things you can go fix. Destroy all Worms! They are too important to the ecosystem. Still, that doesn't mean you have to go out of your way to promote their growth.
