Facts on the Environment of the Earth

Environmental Facts

Go through these shocking truths about the environment of our planet and share them with your friends.

• 80% of the world's forests are gone.
• Over 40% of all tropical forests have been destroyed and another acre is lost each second.
• The US has less than 4% of its forests left.
• The U.S. burns 10,000 gallons of gasoline a second. Burning one gallon of gas creates 22 lbs of carbon dioxide. Now that's 220,000 lbs of Co2 per second.
• An average American creates 4.5 lbs. garbage a day -- an amount doubled from 30 years ago.
• Every year we throw away 24 million tons of leaves and grass. Leaves alone account for 75% of our solid waste in the fall.
• Over 100 pesticide ingredients are suspected to cause birth defects, cancer, and gene mutations.
• 99% of all those things we buy are not in use after 6 months.
• Every ton of recycled office paper saves 380 gallons of oil.
• About 1% of U.S. landfill space is full of disposable diapers, which take 500 years to decompose.
• 40% of our waterways are undrinkable.
• The US has 5% of the world's population and 30% of the waste.
• Energy saved from one recycled aluminum can will operate a TV set for 3 hours, and is the equivalent to half a can of gasoline.
• As per an estimation by The University of California, 30,000 deaths occur a year because of gasoline or diesel fuel use.
• Approximately, 70,000 people in the U.S die prematurely from heart and lung disease aggravated by particulate air pollution.
• Glass produced from recycled glass instead of raw materials reduces related air pollution by 20%, and water pollution by 50%.
• Americans annually use 50 million tons of paper. This equals the consumption of more than 850 million trees.
• Homeowners use up to 10 times more toxic chemicals per acre than farmers.
• Turning down your central heating thermostat by one degree can cut fuel consumption by as much as 10%.
• Insulating your attic reduces the amount of energy loss in most houses by up to 20%.
• The amount of glass disposed of in 1990 was enough to fill the Twin Towers (1,350 feet high) of New York's World Trade Center every two weeks.
• Using energy efficient bulbs in place of every 75 watt light bulbs can prevent 1 ton of carbon dioxide from being released in the air.
• Many banks lent large sums of money to developing nations. In order to pay those debts plus interest many nations have turned to the mining of their natural resources as a source of financial aid.
• 40,000 children in the world die every year from preventable diseases.
• The human population of the world is expected to rise by nearly three times by the year 2100.
• A 3% annual population growth will result in the doubling of consumption and production of food and other products within 2033.
• The number of automobiles is expected to increase by 15 million per year until at least 2010.
• The world's per capita grain production has been on the downfall since 1985 despite the use of fertilizers and pesticides.
• Already a train system has been developed (back in 1987) which is based on magnetic levitation and causes minimal pollution. These versions of a train are already in use in several countries.
• Fibre optics, made of glass, are being used to replace copper cables throughout the world.
• Uncontrolled fishing has resulted in the reduction of the population of many commercial species; some upto one-tenth of their original population.
• Every day 50 to 100 species of plants and animals become extinct as their habitat and human activities destroy them.