Adam Lowe’s Posts

• Wet's the Matter? 0

  Posted 9 years, 6 months ago

  • 1.1 billion -- the number of people worldwide who lack an adequate and safe supply of water for their daily needs, approximately one in five
  • 5 million --- the number of people, mostly children, who die each year from illnesses caused by poor-quality water supplies
  • 5 -- the minimum number of gallons of water needed to meet a person's daily needs, according to the World Health Organization
  • 4.5 -- the average number of gallons of water consumed daily per person in Haiti in 1995
  • 24 million -- the number of people in Bangladesh estimated to be drinking water from… Read More

• Bean Counting 0

  Posted 9 years, 7 months ago

  • 3,300 -- number of cups of coffee that are consumed each second worldwide
  • 6.3 million -- metric tons of coffee produced in the world in the 1999-2000 crop year
  • 25 million -- number of farmers who grow coffee worldwide, the majority on small-scale farms
  • 600-800 AD -- the era in which an Ethiopian goat herder named Kaldi reportedly discovered coffee after observing that his goats become very excited upon eating coffee berries
  • 60 -- percentage of Ethiopia's export earnings derived from coffee sales in 1995
  • 40 -- percentage of coffee-growing lands in Colombia, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean… Read More

• Fool's Gold 0

  Posted 9 years, 7 months ago

  • 125,000 metric tons -- estimated amount of gold mined worldwide since historical times
  • 2,500 metric tons -- amount of gold mined worldwide in 1998
  • 360 cubic feet -- amount of waste rock removed in order to produce enough gold to make an average pair of gold wedding bands
  • 31 -- number of fatalities in gold mines in the U.S. from 1994 to 1998, an average of 1 death per 54.2 metric tons of gold
  • 1,634 -- number of fatalities in gold mines in South Africa from 1994 to 1998, an average of 1 death per 1.6 metric tons of… Read More

• Gas 'n' Uh-oh 0

  Posted 9 years, 8 months ago

  • 40 percent -- petroleum's share of global energy consumed in 1998
  • $246 -- amount spent by the author on gasoline to drive a 1987 Honda Accord 5,700 miles on a cross-country road trip from Feb. 15 to March 15, 2000
  • $433 -- estimated amount the author would have spent if he had driven a new Ford Explorer 4WD, the most popular sports utility vehicle in the U.S.
  • $725 -- the cost of an equivalent amount of gas in 1981, adjusted for inflation to today's dollars
  • 1.7 billion -- the number of urban residents in developing nations who are in… Read More

• Mercury Falling 0

  Posted 9 years, 9 months ago

  • 1,931 advisories have been issued by state and local governments telling the public to limit consumption of fish caught in local water bodies due to mercury contamination
  • 1 mercury-containing home fever thermometer can contaminate a 20-acre lake with enough mercury to provoke a fish consumption warning
  • $3 - $5 is the extra cost of purchasing a mercury-free digital fever thermometer instead of a mercury-containing one
  • 4,581 metric tons of mercury are stockpiled by the federal government, but have been declared surplus to the nation's needs
  • 2.8 billion home fever thermometers could be filled with… Read More

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