ENVR 30
Assignment #7
To be submitted on Canvas
1. What is the most important or interesting thing you learned in the past week in this class?
- The most interesting thing that I learned in the past week was there are important
components to soil. I wouldn’t have thought soil actually has important components
which include soil, including worms, fungi, and bacteria.
2. What was the most confusing topic from this week’s reading or lecture? What questions do
you still have?
- What I still sometimes get confused about is transferring units of energy. Does it depend
on primary producers and who is eating it?
3. Read the “Cow Burps – Science Journal for Teens” article (linked with this assignment).
a. Why is the process of life cycle assessment (LCA) a useful way of thinking about the
global warming impacts of regular, everyday activities, like eating beef?
- Life cycle assessment is when scientist are able to calculate the impact that a product
has during its entire life span. This even includes from growing it, to disposal of it. The
process of LCA is a useful way of thinking about the global warming impacts of regular
every day activities like eating beef because it calculates the carbon that’s being
released from eating beef. It adds all the carbon up from the carbon that’s coming from
the produce that the cows eat, to the carbon released from the trucks that deliver the
cows to the slaughterhouse, to electricity being used to store the meat. The results of
this showed that producing a pound of beef lets 30 pounds of carbon into the
atmosphere. LCA is essential because it calculates the amount of carbon that is released
into the air. I think if more people knew about how much this is affecting the earth,
maybe they will make a change.
b. Do you think a carbon tax or fee should be levied on agricultural practices that
contribute to climate change? Why or why not?
- I think a carbon tax or a fee on agricultural practices that contribute to climate change
would be smart because of the impacts on the environment that it takes to produce beef.
Producing just one pound of beef results in more than 30x more carbon emissions than
producing a pound of meat. This has a lot to do on climate change because more than
one pound is produced and consumed daily. People should be charged because the more
expensive meat is, the less people will buy, which means less production. The less
production there is, the less carbon emissions there is being produced. It takes a lot
raising cattles anyways. It uses and requires a lot of fossil fuels just so we can eat. Im not
sure if this means we will breed cattle less but if that’s the case, then it will be a good
thing because even cow burps release so much carbon. However, I don’t think people
will be happy about the increase of price but in the long run itll be worth it.
c. A plant-based diet requires far fewer resources and energy, and therefore people
should choose to decrease meat consumption. Do you agree or disagree with this
statement? Explain why.
- I agree with this statement. I agree that people should choose to decrease meat
consumption because it will decrease the amount of carbon put out in the earth. If
This study source was downloaded by 100000899194722 from CourseHero.com on 05-30-2025 15:21:18 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/225784516/Assignment-7docx/
Assignment #7
To be submitted on Canvas
1. What is the most important or interesting thing you learned in the past week in this class?
- The most interesting thing that I learned in the past week was there are important
components to soil. I wouldn’t have thought soil actually has important components
which include soil, including worms, fungi, and bacteria.
2. What was the most confusing topic from this week’s reading or lecture? What questions do
you still have?
- What I still sometimes get confused about is transferring units of energy. Does it depend
on primary producers and who is eating it?
3. Read the “Cow Burps – Science Journal for Teens” article (linked with this assignment).
a. Why is the process of life cycle assessment (LCA) a useful way of thinking about the
global warming impacts of regular, everyday activities, like eating beef?
- Life cycle assessment is when scientist are able to calculate the impact that a product
has during its entire life span. This even includes from growing it, to disposal of it. The
process of LCA is a useful way of thinking about the global warming impacts of regular
every day activities like eating beef because it calculates the carbon that’s being
released from eating beef. It adds all the carbon up from the carbon that’s coming from
the produce that the cows eat, to the carbon released from the trucks that deliver the
cows to the slaughterhouse, to electricity being used to store the meat. The results of
this showed that producing a pound of beef lets 30 pounds of carbon into the
atmosphere. LCA is essential because it calculates the amount of carbon that is released
into the air. I think if more people knew about how much this is affecting the earth,
maybe they will make a change.
b. Do you think a carbon tax or fee should be levied on agricultural practices that
contribute to climate change? Why or why not?
- I think a carbon tax or a fee on agricultural practices that contribute to climate change
would be smart because of the impacts on the environment that it takes to produce beef.
Producing just one pound of beef results in more than 30x more carbon emissions than
producing a pound of meat. This has a lot to do on climate change because more than
one pound is produced and consumed daily. People should be charged because the more
expensive meat is, the less people will buy, which means less production. The less
production there is, the less carbon emissions there is being produced. It takes a lot
raising cattles anyways. It uses and requires a lot of fossil fuels just so we can eat. Im not
sure if this means we will breed cattle less but if that’s the case, then it will be a good
thing because even cow burps release so much carbon. However, I don’t think people
will be happy about the increase of price but in the long run itll be worth it.
c. A plant-based diet requires far fewer resources and energy, and therefore people
should choose to decrease meat consumption. Do you agree or disagree with this
statement? Explain why.
- I agree with this statement. I agree that people should choose to decrease meat
consumption because it will decrease the amount of carbon put out in the earth. If
This study source was downloaded by 100000899194722 from CourseHero.com on 05-30-2025 15:21:18 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/225784516/Assignment-7docx/
