Have you ever wondered how much cows fart? Or burp?

Well, A LOT of people have. When a cow has gas, it releases methane, a compound that has a BIG impact upon the Earth. Since methane is a greenhouse gas that packs a lot of warming power, countries are required to estimate and control their methane output, so they have to ask themselves, just how much DO our cows fart?

A new formula published by Kathleen Lyons and Felisa Smith in the journal Global Change Biology, will make it easier for countries to estimate the methane output of cows, horses, sheep and other domestic and wild animals.

Fun Fact: Most of the methane released by cows comes out in burps rather than farts.

Fun Fact: Cows release more methane than horses because their food is digested differently.

For more information, see this article from Smithsonian Science News: Gas Guesstimates .