How do cows hurt the environment?

Answer 1

It is not the cows themselves that hurt the environment, it's the humans that take care of them that are the ones responsible. The hoax, if it should be called that, that cows produce "over 30% of the world's methane" (which is considerably far from the truth) is just that: a hoax. Many other animals produce significant portions of methane themselves, including humans. Quite frankly humans are the most significant source of methane (and nitrous oxide), producing far much more than the whole world's cows do, or any of the natural sources do, like volcanoes, what eathquakes release and oceans release, swamps, lakes, etc.

The fact that grass feeding cows is worse for the environment than feedlotting cattle is really a lie. No one ever mentions the massive carbon sequestration that occurs in natural grasslands and permanent pastures when such grasslands are taken care of properly and responsibly by grazing livestock responsibly and managing such pastures as best as possible. The carbon sequestration that occurs in such grasslands do the exact opposite to what happens in feedlots and cropping systems; they are carbon sources, which means massive amounts of carbon are released to the atmosphere when fields are tilled, massive piles of manure are removed, the big vats of liquid manure are moved from pit or lagoon to field, the list goes on. People who are vegans think they are doing the environment good by eating vegetables instead of meat. What they don't realize is that they are really doing the opposite, especially since fields need to be tilled every year to plant, grow and harvest their vegetables to eat.

So, back to the topic on hand, cows only hurt the environment if they are not managed properly and irresponsibly. That's all there is to it.