For years, cows have taken the blame for their fragrant contribution to global warming. But are these four-legged methane machines truly the main villain of climate change, or are humans just pointing fingers in the wrong direction?

Cows, like the love-able yet environmentally questionable animals they are, produce an astonishing amount of methane. According to the USDA, cows can emit nearly 220 pounds of methane per year. With nearly 1.6 billion cows on earth, that is an astonishing amount of greenhouse gasses. 

When comparing the strength of methane to carbon dioxide, methane is 28 times as potent as carbon dioxide and traps much more heat in the atmosphere. That means Bessie the dairy cow contributes more to rising sea levels than your neighbor’s truck. 

But humans stink too. Before we start cancelling cows, let’s consider humans. Humans’ environmental impact is far more significant. The average person emits roughly 8 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, thanks to our cars and our lovely air conditioning.

Humans are gassy contributors to climate change as well. According to some studies, the global human population emits around 73 million tons of methane annually, largely due to landfills and food waste. 

Cows may be methane factories on hooves, but they’re not the ones flying private jets or producing millions of tons of plastic waste. The real problem isn’t the cows, it’s what humans do with them. Industrial cattle farming, deforestation for grazing land, and inefficient agricultural practices amplify their environmental impact.

Although cows may be gassy, humans are gassier in more ways than one. If we want to fix the planet we might need to stop blaming Bessie and look in a mirror. Or at least consider ways to both make ourselves environmentally helpful and help cows become less pollutant.