Saturday, May 14, 2022
VIEWPOINTS
East Oregonian
A5
The risky business of bovine belches
J.D.
SMITH
FROM THE HEADWATERS
OF DRY CREEK
I
n this installment of our monthly word
drool, we shall investigate the ways in
which a thousand-pound steer pawing
through the snow to gain access to April
grass on the banks of the Umatilla River
could possibly influence the Queen of
England’s choice of outer garments, as in
“Jeeves, fetch the ermine stole. It appears
to be a wee bit chilly in the castle.”
It is estimated that there are 1.3 billion
domestic cattle on our planet, with roughly
100 million of them in the United States. The
precise number is not available because of
daily fluctuations in hamburger consump-
tion and because cows have trouble hold-
ing a pencil to fill out census forms.
Cattle are ruminants, meaning that
they possess multi-chambered digestive
tracts that allow them to convert organic
matter into animal protein, grass into
milk and salad into steak. The first cham-
ber beyond the mouth, as viewed from
the front of the animal, is the rumen.
The rumen contains large populations
of microbes (little bitty critters) whose jobs
are to assist Bossy in breaking down diffi-
cult-to-digest cellulose into a form that her
body can use. Bossy helps this process by
chewing her food several times, crushing the
fibers. It is this wad of predigested vegeta-
ble matter that we know and love as a cow’s
cud. The microbes, in order to perform their
magic, must do so in a relatively oxygen-free
atmosphere, which is the case in the rumen.
The chemical breakdown in the rumen
is essentially a fermentation process, akin
to our own manufacture of pale ale, and
the byproduct of the rumen’s brewery is a
build-up of gasses, primarily CH4 (meth-
ane) and CO2 (carbon dioxide). Ninety-five
percent of these gasses are expelled by the
cow through eructation, or burping, which
occurs every forty seconds or so. The
remainder of the gas exits the cow elsewhere.
Methane and carbon dioxide tend to trap
solar radiation as it is reflected from the
earth’s surface and the gasses are impli-
cated in what has come to be known as
the “greenhouse effect.” A molecule of
methane is about 20 times more absor-
pollution than I will by continuing to drive
my petroleum-burning used automobile.
(A moment of Zen. If crude oil contains
dinosaur remains and if plastic is made
from oil, does this mean that plastic dino-
saurs are made from real dinosaurs?)
Scientists are pointing a pinky finger
at rice cultivation (swamp gas) and bovine
eructation (burping) for up to twenty
percent of atmospheric methane. I person-
ally have trouble believing this data but
let us assume that cattle do burp loads of
methane and that the burping has plane-
tary effects. How does methane produc-
tion lead to the cooling of the Queen?
Enter a German scientist named Dr.
“EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS OF ICE AGE WILL
HAPPEN TO THAT STEER ALONG UMATILLA, AND
THE QUEEN WILL BE A WEE BIT MORE CHILLY.
CHEERY STUFF. MAKES ME WANT TO DRIVE TO
HAL’S FOR A DOUBLE BACON CHEESEBURGER.”
bent than one of carbon dioxide. Both
compounds are blamed for an overall rise
in the temperature of the planet, once
known as “global warming” but presently
couched in the term “climate change.”
The largest source of atmospheric pollu-
tion is, by far, the burning of fossil fuels.
In my not-so-humble opinion, until we get
a better handle on the multifold uses of
oil, it really doesn’t matter how many pork
and bean cans or Cheerio boxes we recy-
cle, the problem of climate change will
persist. Meanwhile, I am pretty sure that
the manufacture of one brand new electric
car sucks more energy and creates more
Broeker, who has come up with a predic-
tion that global warming may result in
the next ice age. Huh? Broeker’s study,
as filtered through my sieve of under-
standing, goes something like this …
Ocean currents are caused by the sun
shining more directly and constantly on
equatorial waters than on, say, the northern
Atlantic. Warm water holds more miner-
als than cold water. Warm water rises, so
there are flows of salty water on the surface
of the oceans that radiate away from the
equator. This water warms the air above
it. This air is responsible for most weather
patterns in non-equatorial latitudes.
When the hyper-saline water reaches
far enough north (or south) and begins to
cool, it is much heavier that the water below
it. It falls to the ocean floor, like a giant
waterfall, where it flows along the ocean
trenches, back to the tropics, to be warmed,
and rise again. We are talking large quan-
tities of water. The North Atlantic current,
for instance, contains twenty times the flow
of all the rivers on the planet combined.
Broeker’s model predicts that, unless
drastic measures are taken to reverse human-
caused global warming, within 35 years
there will be enough of a rise in atmospheric
temperatures (just a couple or three degrees
Fahrenheit) that the polar ice caps will begin
to discharge very large doses of fresh water
and big ice cubes into the oceans. The effect
of this melting will be that the warm equa-
torial ocean currents will run into colder,
fresher water closer to the equator, and the
paths of the great loops of warm water will
shorten, cutting off supplies of warm, moist
air to northern and southern latitudes.
This interruption of the ocean currents
will both dry out and refrigerate great
land masses away from the equator, caus-
ing agricultural lands to be-come unpro-
ductive. Famine and serious food fights
are likely to occur in the temperate zones.
Well-armed industrial societies will
invade and eradicate social structures in
the warm equatorial regions. The coni-
fer forests of the planet will die of thirst.
Eight hundred years of ice age will
happen to that steer along Umatilla, and
the Queen will be a wee bit more chilly.
Cheery stuff. Makes me want to drive to
Hal’s for a double bacon cheeseburger.
———
J.D. Smith is an accomplished writer and
jack-of-all-trades. He lives in Athena.
Getting to where I am took growth, help
ERIC
BURNHAM
OTHER VIEWS
F
or more than 20 years now, I have
been inmate No. 12729124, but my
name is Eric. I am serving a 25 year-
to-life sentence for second-degree murder.
On Sept. 5, 2001 I took a man’s life
during a fight I started while drunk, creat-
ing a ripple effect of pain and suffering
that damaged countless lives. I take full
responsibility for how my violence harmed
others, and early in my prison sentence I
made the decision to do something about
it, although back then I didn’t know what.
When I was arrested, I was 21 years old,
staggeringly narcissistic, addicted to alco-
hol, marijuana and methamphetamines,
lost behind the mask I used to hide my
shortcomings, and profoundly undered-
ucated. I didn’t even have a GED. I acted
out in ways I thought would effectively
conceal my insecurities, and I pretended
to be someone I am not. I was broken, and
wounded people tend to hurt others. Once I
honestly took responsibility for my self-
ishness and violence, however, I regained
the power to determine my impact on the
world. I may have ended up in prison,
but prison is not the end of my story.
My first few years of incarceration
were chaotic as I adjusted to my new real-
ity and the fact that deep down I knew
I deserved to be in prison, but I knew I
didn’t want to be a man who belonged here.
A few life-changing experiences led to
some deep personal growth, and I learned
how to make better decisions. While it
took time to gain momentum, I was able
to overcome the swamp of inner turmoil
and the darkness of my environment.
In 2003, I earned my GED, and I began
working as a tutor in the Education Depart-
ment in early 2008. I began taking college
courses and earned an associate of arts
degree in 2013. I went on to earn a Bach-
elor of Arts degree in 2015, graduating
summa cum laude with a 3.98 GPA. In
2017 I completed my master’s of coun-
seling degree, and on Dec. 10, 2021, I
graduated with a Ph.D. in psychology
and counseling from Liberty University,
the culmination of a long and demand-
ing journey of self-discovery, personal
growth, and educational achievement.
I could not have done it alone.
I am so grateful for the financial assis-
tance of my mother who completely paid for
my education — every penny from the first
course in my associate degree program to the
final practicum of my doctoral program. Her
investment in me and in my future was not
only a vehicle for my transformation; it very
likely saved my life. I also must extend my
gratitude to the Blue Mountain Community
College instructors who staff the education
department at Eastern Oregon Correctional
Institution, Pendleton. I will never forget
them, for they are real world life-changers.
Prison can be deeply toxic and ruthlessly
oppressive, filled with hidden exploita-
tion, normalized dehumanization, arbi-
trary rules with inconsistent enforcement
and an inflexible power structure that often
folds resentment and rage into the person-
ality of the incarcerated. Adversity does not
adequately describe the pursuit of a college
education while incarcerated; resisting the
temptation to become callous in an effort to
remain physically and emotionally safe has
literally changed my life. When I arrived at
EOCI, I was empty and without purpose,
and in my spirit I knew I offered nothing
good to the world. I only consumed, never
contributing much of substance or worth.
I did not know how to be anything other
than what I had always been, and within a
few years of being here, I reached a point
where I did not want to live anymore.
Yet, through my studies in psychol-
ogy and philosophy, I have found not only
understanding, meaning in my mistakes,
and purpose in my pain, but also the
insight and skills needed to use my expe-
riences to help others. Many steps along
the way have seemed insignificant and
very difficult, but looking back on how
far I have come, I can see how each one
mattered. Today I no longer need to hide
behind a mask or find refuge in a pretense
of violence or in the numbness of intoxi-
cation. I can be my authentic self, allow-
ing empathy and compassion for others
to take root within my personality.
I have made so many mistakes, but
through my faith in God and my educa-
tion I have found the strength to keep
moving forward. I can never repay all
that I have taken, but I am committed to
spending the rest of my life giving all I
can to make the world even just a little
better. My future may be shaped by my
past, but it will not be defined by it.
———
Eric Burnham is an adult in custody at
Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution,
Pendleton, and has earned a doctorate
degree in psychology and counseling while
serving his sentence of 25 years to life.