Greenathon Green Facts!

• Ice caps are white, and reflect sunlight, much of which is reflected back into space, in turn cooling Earth; but with the ice caps melting, the only reflector is the ocean. Darker colors absorb sunlight, further warming the Earth.
• Scientists blame global warming for the declining penguin population, as warmer waters and smaller ice floes force the birds to travel further to find food.
• Stressed by cyanide fishing, harbor dredging, coral mining, deforestation, coastal development, agricultural runoff, careless divers, and now global warming, there is a devastating loss of coral across the world.
• With accelerated global warming, and the ice covering melting, the earth would be absorbing more sunlight, and is on its way to becoming hotter than before.
• Due to global warming the polar ice cap in the Arctic region is shrinking and rupturing; if this continues, summers in the Arctic would become ice-free by the end of this century.
• Everytime we burn oil, coal and gas to generate electricity and power, we produce the heat trapping gases that cause global warming.
• Deforestation is one of the main causes of atmospheric carbon dioxide; burning and cutting millions of acres of trees each year, it is responsible for 20-25 per cent of all carbon emissions.
• Water vapor is the most prevalent and most powerful greenhouse gas on the planet; it holds onto two-thirds of the heat trapped by all the greenhouse gases.
• Every week about 20 species of plants and animals become extinct!
• Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres per minute!
• One-third of the water used in most homes is flushed down the toilet.
• A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000 gallons of fresh water.
• Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year.
• A modern glass bottle would take 4000 years or more to decompose -- and even longer if it's in the landfill.
• Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours
• Energy-saving lightbulbs last around ten times longer than ordinary lightbulbs- over 10,000 hours.
• A laptop is more environment friendly than a desktop. It consumes five times less electricity.
• An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a can 500 years from now!
• A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Shade provided by trees can also reduce your air conditioning bill by 10 to 15 per cent.
• Tissue paper is a major source of waste. It takes 60,00,000 trees to make 1 year's worth of tissues for the world.
• A ton of recycled paper equals or saves 17 trees in paper production.
• A plant on your desk acts as a natural filter, absorbing airborne pollutants and computer radiation while replenishing oxygen levels.
• Lawns only need watering once a week, post rain only after two weeks. Do watering early morning for minimal evaporation and water conservation.
• Crawling traffic contributes eight times as much air pollution as traffic moving at regular highway speed.
• Avoiding just 10 miles of driving every week would eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year!
• Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth and soaping your hands. This can save around 16 litres a day. That's 11,000 litre of water per person per year.
• A dripping tap can waste over 20,000 litres of water every year.