Scientists breed ‘green’ sheep to fight global warming

Scientists are coming up with ‘green’ animals now.  How?  By making them burp less!

In an effort to mitigate climate change, Australian scientists are finding ways to identify a genetic link that will make some sheep belch less than others.

The logic is that the amount of gas burped out by these animals is far higher than flatulence.

Scientists from New South Wales have been conducting studies in special enclosures where they gauge the quantity of gas emitted by burping.

By experimenting on 200 heads of sheeps, scientists found out that the more the animals eat, the more they give off gas by burping.

The ultimate goal is to breed sheep that produce less methane, which contributes more to global warming than carbon dioxide does.

The Australia’s Sheep Cooperative Research Council corroborated such study by saying that 66% of agricultural emissions are released as methane from the gut of livestock.

[via bbc.co.uk Image source: Getty Images]