RICE Paddies Cause Global Warming!
I know I said I should stop blogging so I can worry about exams.
But I saw this nutty news story and could not resist posting. So I suppose I lied in my last post. Oh, well. Sue me already. *Giggle*
According to this report in the Boston Globe, rice paddies cause global warming. No, really!
Here's the quote:
BANGKOK, Thailand --As delegates to a climate conference here debate how to reduce greenhouse gases, one of the problems -- and a possible solution -- lies in the rice fields that cover much of Thailand, the rest of Asia and beyond. Methane emissions from flooded rice paddies contribute to global warming just as coal-fired power plants, automobile exhausts and other sources do with the carbon dioxide they spew into the atmosphere. In fact, the report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change meeting this week in Bangkok concludes that rice production was a main cause of rising methane emissions in the 20th century. It calls for better controls. "There is no other crop that is emitting such a large amount of greenhouse gases," said Reiner Wassmann, a climate change specialist at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. "Methane emissions are unique to rice," he said. "If Asian countries are exploring possibilities to reduce greenhouse gas, they have to look at rice production. I'm not saying it's the biggest source, but in Asia it's a source that cannot be neglected." |
Ooooo! Who cares if millions of people depend on rice for food everyday? Rice causes greenhouse emissions! Rice causes global warming! We must act now! BAN RICE FOR GAIA!!!
Should I now expect enviro-extremists to campaign against rice paddies? If they do, I shall fire back that they are trampling all over my minority indigenous rice-loving culture. I warn you right now, wild-eyed Gore-disciples! Keep your hands off my shrimp fried rice!
By the way, one of my favorite kinds of rice is jasmine rice from Thailand. I guess I'm even more of a climate criminal! Yep, not only do I support methane-spouting rice paddies, but I support the carbon-spewing international transportation bringing that rice from Asia to me here in the US. I then stir-fry beef from methane-emitting cows to eat with my methane-emitting rice, and my stove uses natural gas, so I'm indulging in fossil fuels! Well, add all this to the ever-increasing list of my politically incorrect sins, then, because I am *NOT* giving up rice. Or eating it with beef stir-fried with ginger, soy sauce, fresh pepper, and snow peas with a drop of sesame oil (mmmmm, delicious!).