Believe it or not, but termites fart the most of any other animal on the face of this planet. But why do termites fart so much? They are after all a tiny, almost insignificant insect when compared to other large animals that are renowned for flatulence, including us humans. Well a lot of it has to do with their diet.
First thing first. Size is not everything, and is far from an indicator of ones performance, just ask my wife. Just because termites are small doesn’t mean that they are incapable of outperforming other creatures on this earth. In fact, the termites fart is so potent, powerful and bountiful that it ends the argument about size almost instantly, when it comes to farts that is.
Ask anyone to name an animal capable of amazing and awesome farts and most would name commonly recognized animals. From elephants, cows and horses to pigs, people and dogs, these would be the most commonly mentioned animal capable of mass methane production. But not only do termites fart more than all of these animals, the collective stench is apparently extremely powerful, eclipsing all other animals.
Now, we’re not saying that each individual termite can out fart any of the other mass farting animals in a one on one contest. It’s the fact that they are so abundant in numbers, and have a high fiber diet that make them the world champions in this particular theater of competition.
They produce so much flatulence that some scientists have speculated that they can produce 165 million tons of methane every year. That’s a real lot, and methane is actually worse for climate change than carbon dioxide. In comparison a cow will produce about 250 liters of methane a day, and the majority will be from belching, not flatulence. In total, scientists believe that termites produce about 11 percent of global methane emissions annually.
Another surprising little find is that methane isn’t the only gas these insects produce. They are also capable of producing hydrogen which is also extremely flammable. From a single sheet of paper, termites can produce up to 2 liters of of hydrogen gas.
