1,001 Facts That Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader (123 page)

937

FACT :
The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo on the Philippine island of Luzon caused
a sulfuric haze around the world
, a global drop in temperatures, and a spike in ozone damage. Most residents were evacuated before billions of tons of ash, magma, and debris destroyed the region.
The worldwide drop in temperature was quickly corrected by global warming, though, so no worries there.

Matt Rosenberg, “Mount Pinatubo Eruption,”
About.com
, August 5, 2007,
www.geography.about.com
.

938

FACT :
The world’s oceans contain enough salt to cover every continent to a depth of
almost 500 feet
.
Which is the same amount needed to make grits edible.

“Fifty Weird Science Tidbits & Oddities,” Science News Review, February 11, 2009,
www.sciencenewsreview.com
.

939

FACT :
There are
909 billion tons of coal reserves
worldwide, enough for 155 years worth of energy.

But using coal as an energy source would only increase global warming.
Burn the coal; we need it. They can worry about what to do in 155 years. None of us will be here anyway.

Daniel Howden, “World Oil Supplies Are Set to Run Out Faster than Expected, Warn Scientists,” The Independent, June 14, 2007,
www.independent.co.uk
.

940

FACT :
Ethanol from corn offers an alternative to oil, but
ethanol production negatively impacts the environment
because corn requires so much space to grow.
We have the room. What the hell else are we gonna do with Iowa and Nebraska?

Daniel Howden, “World Oil Supplies Are Set to Run Out Faster than Expected, Warn Scientists,” The Independent, June 14, 2007,
www.independent.co.uk
.

941

FACT :
Twenty-two million hectares of tropical forest and savanna in South America are on course
to be displaced by rapidly expanding soybean plantations
in the next twenty years, resulting in the destruction of tropical ecosystems, the acceleration of climate change, and the elimination of biodiversity.
I’m not sure what a hectare is, but that doesn’t sound good.

Dan Shapley, “Natural Resources Being Depleted At Record Rates,” The Daily Green, September 13, 2007,
www.thedailygreen.com
.

“Global Ecological Emergency: Brazil Must Succeed in Keeping Soybeans Out of Amazon,” Action Alert, EcoEarth.info,
www.ecoearth.info
.

942

FACT :
Four years of deforestation shares
the same the carbon footprint
as every air flight from the dawn of aviation thru 2025.
Deforestation doesn’t give you free soft drinks, though.

Debra Ronca, “How Deforestation Works,”
HowStuffWorks.com
,
www.science.howstuffworks.com
.

943

FACT :
Biologists believe that the flora and fauna of rainforests holds the cures to many diseases.

Rainforests cover only 7 percent of the Earth but are inhabited by 50 percent of the plant and animal species of the world—
species becoming extinct
as deforestation shrinks rainforest areas.
Deforestation is named for DeForest Kelley, famed tree-cutter and actor who played Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy on
Star Trek
.

Debra Ronca, “How Deforestation Works,”
HowStuffWorks.com
,
www.science.howstuffworks.com
.

944

FACT :
Burning rainforests account for
roughly 30 percent
of the carbon dioxide released in the air.
We shouldn’t burn the rainforests. We need to save them to burn when we run out of oil and need the heat.

Tom Harris, “How Rainforests Work,”
HowStuffWorks.com
,
www.science.howstuffworks.com
.

945