These gases, which trap heat in the atmosphere, could warm the world by an additional 2.7 to 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2050. That could trigger massive droughts, floods and more killer tropical storms.
As jungles vanish, 50 to 100 species go extinct every Mr day. In most cases, no one knows their names-because science never got a chance to identify them. It is the greatest rate of extinction since the end of the dinosaurs.
Some 1.2 billion people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water. In 1990, 3.2 million children under the age of 5 died of diarrheal disease. That is 365 deaths every hour, everyday, caused by drinking contaminated water.
By 2050, today’s population of 5.4 billion will have grown to 8 billion if fertility rates stabilize. If they don’t, the population will be an awesome 12.5 billion.
The global fish catch fell from 100 million tons in 1989 to 98 million in 1991, because of overharvesting. Overfishing threatens Atlantic cod, haddock, herring and other important species.
In springtime, the layer of ozone over the Antarctic is 50 percent thinner than it was 15 years ago.
World grain harvests grew by 3 percent a year from 1950 to 1984, but only 1 percent since. Overuse and pollution cost $42 billion in crop and livestock losses in 1991.
Rain forests are being burned and cleared at a rate of 42 million acres a year. That’s an area almost the size of Oklahoma. At that speed, the jungles will be almost all gone by the year 2030.
The world will need twice the raw materials in 2010 that it does today. To use oil in the next decade at the rate we do now, we need to discover as much in 10 years as has been found in all of history.
From the newer cities of the U.S. to the antiquated coal towns of Eastern Europe, as many as 1.25 billion people-that’s almost one fifth of mankind-breathe air considered ‘unhealthy.’
The United States has tough environmental laws, but activists say there’s still a lot to be done. Here are a few of the steps forward-and back:
Thanks to the Clean Air Act of 1970, we can breathe easier. don’t pollute as much, and there’s less sulfur dioxide, lead and soot in the air.
The rain forest isn’t the only place trees are failing: just 5 percent of our native virgin forests remain.
Recycling: 3,000 curbside programs, up from just hundreds three years ago.
Workers will soon be using pesticides more safely, thanks to new regulations.
Half of our 6,000 landfills will be full or closed by 1995.
Clean-water laws have gotten two thirds of U.S. rivers fit for drinking, swimming and fishing.
The-ozone hole is still growing-but the U.S. supports a world ban on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
The U.S. is trying to protect more and more animals-758 species are on the national endangered list today.
We didn’t just start fixing the environment-the U.S. banned the use of CFCs in aerosol cans all the way back in 1978!
Fuel efficiency has doubled since 1976, saving an extra 2.5 million barrels of oil daily.
