STATISTICS AND FACTS
FOREST FACTS
55% of the world's largest rainforest stands to be severely damaged from agriculture, drought, fire, logging and livestock ranching over the next 22 years. - The World Wildlife Fund
CO2
There has been a 38% increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration since the industrial revolution.
CLIMATE CHANGE
During the last one hundred years the global temperature has warmed between 0.7-1.5°C.
2009 was one of the 5 hottest years since 1850 and it was predicted last year that with a moderate El Nino, 2010 would likely break the record. - U.K Met Office
2010 was the hottest year on record so far (tied with 1998).
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
It took 125 years to consume the first trillion barrels of oil - the world will consume the next trillion in only 30 years. - Chevron
On average, the 140 million cars in The United States are estimated to travel over 6.4 billion kilometres in a day, and according to the Department of Transportation, they use over 200 million gallons of gasoline doing it. - The Department of Transportation
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
Homeowners use up to 10 times more toxic chemicals per acre than farmers.
Citizens in the United States spend $25 billion a year on lawn care. Residential lawns and gardens are doused with 80 million pounds of chemical pesticides and 70 million tonnes of fertilizers annually. - US EPA
WATER
70% of the world's surface is covered by water but 97.5% of that is salt water. The 2.5% of fresh drinkable water, 68.7% of that is frozen in ice caps and glaciers.This means that less than 1% is available for human use.
The average person in the western world uses 465 litres of water per day.
WASTE AND RECYLING
Each year more than 20 million trees are consumed for production of book papers and about 95 million trees are consumed for newsprint. - The Green Press Initiative
Citizens in The United States use 50 million tonnes of paper annually - consuming more than 850 million trees.
SPECIES EXTINCTION
With the current levels of rainforest destruction many local species are going extinct at a rate of 100 species per day.
Every day 50 to 100 species of plants and animals become extinct as their habitat and human influences destroy them.
HEALTH
Over 100 pesticide ingredients are suspected to cause birth defects, cancer, and gene mutations.
On average 232 toxic chemicals are found in the umbilical cord of newborn babies in The United States.
HUMAN POPULATION
At around 8000 B.C., the population of the world was approximately 5 million; 2000 years ago the population grew to around 200 million. By 1800 the global population was 1 billion. In 1999, the world population passed the six billion mark. The current population in 2010 is over 7 billion.
The human population on earth has grown more in the last 50 years than it did in the previous 4 million years.
THE NEXT GENERATION
The current generation of children may not be as environmentally conscious as we might hope. Studies have shown that children can identify as many as 1 000 corporate logos, but are unable to identify 10 plants or animals in their own backyards. - Children in Nature
It's high time to do something with it: Carbon Central Network
