Pollutionwatch: are farming emissions killing cows too?

Knowing that air pollution is affecting livestock may prompt farmers to help clean our airThousands of scientific papers tell us that air pollution harms our health and shortens our lives, but what about effects on other animals? Thirteen prize cattle at the Smithfield agricultural show were among the first victims of London's coal-induced smog in 1952, and when industrial smog engulfed Belgium's Meuse Valley in 1911 and again in 1930, farmers tried vainly to save their herds by driving them up hillsides above the pollution.In the Netherlands, scientists have found possible links between modern air pollution and deaths of young cattle, mainly in summer when the animals graze outside. In Belgium, researchers examined the (non-slaughterhouse) deaths of 87,108 adult dairy cows. They compared air pollution when each one died with times when the cow was well. Their results also point to cattle being vulnerable to air pollution. Continue reading...