Fwd: Today's Muse: What's wrong with this picture?
Seth Itzkan
From: Seth Itzkan <seth....@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 25, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Subject: Today's Muse: What's wrong with this picture?
To: Healthy Soils Coalition <VH...@list.uvm.edu>
What's wrong with this picture?
- The tracer gas used to measure methane from cows - sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) - has a global warming potential (GWP) of approximately 850 times that of the methane itself over a 100-year period with an atmospheric lifetime of 3,200 years compared to only 7 to 12 years for methane.
- Enough of the nonsense. Let’s just build soil. Graze holistically.
Google AI: How much more of a greenhouse gas is sulfur hexafluoride versus methane?
"Over a 100-year period, sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is approximately 850 more potent as a greenhouse gas than methane (CH4). This figure is calculated using the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of each gas relative to carbon dioxide (CO2)."
"Global Warming Potential (100-year GWP)
The GWP quantifies the amount of heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere over a specific timeframe relative to CO2.
- Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6): The 100-year GWP for SF6 is 24,300. This means one ton of SF6 will trap as much heat as 24,300 tons of CO2 over a century.
- Methane (CH4): The 100-year GWP for CH4 is 28. This means one ton of CH4 will trap as much heat as 28 tons of CO2 over a century."
Some Greenhouse Gases Are Stronger than Others
https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/how-climate-works/some-greenhouse-gases-are-stronger-others
Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer technique
https://books.publisso.de/en/publisso_gold/publishing/books/overview/53/196
"The SF6 tracer method (Sulphur Hexafluoride tracer method) is a technique used to measure enteric methane emissions from ruminants, like cattle and sheep. It involves placing a permeation tube containing SF6 gas into the animal's reticulo-rumen to release SF6 at a constant, known rate. Gases collected from the animal's breath contain both SF6 and methane (CH4). By comparing the ratio of the concentrations of CH4 and SF6 in the collected samples to their known release rates and background atmospheric levels, the daily methane production can be estimated. "
Google AI: Is Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) the most potent greenhouse gas
