Even your daily milk drink has contributed to about three percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions, a report by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (UN – FAO) showed.

“Methane contributes most to milk’s impact on global warming, accounting for more than half of the sector’s emissions in both developing and developed countries,” the UN-FAO said.

Methane is the second most notorious greenhouse gas (GHG) after carbon dioxide.

“Nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide also account for large proportions of the dairy sector’s contributions to greenhouse gas emissions,” it added.

The three percent contribution to greenhouse gas emissions include those related to the production, processing and transportation of milk products. It escalates to four percent when emissions from meat production from animals originating from the dairy system are included.