[www.socyberty.com]* Percent of US business schools that now require a course in environmental sustainability or corporate social responsibility: 54%, up from 34% in 2001.
* The warmest January ever recorded: January 2007, 1.53 degrees warmer than normal.
* The dollar equivalent of the amount of energy and cost savings delivered by the Energy Star Program in 2005 to US businesses, organizations and consumers: $12 billion.
* Typical number of diapers used per baby in the United States, depending on when toilet training occurs: 5,000 to 8,000.
* The US burns 10,000 gallons of gasoline a second.
* Amount of time it takes to change a lightbulb: 18 seconds. Amount of CO2 that can be averted each year when that incandescent lightbulb is replaced with a compact fluorescent: 104 pounds.
* If just 25 percent of US families used 10 fewer plastic bags per month, we would save more than 2.5 billion bags a year.
* Every ton of recycled office paper saves 380 gallons of oil.
[homeenergysavings1.blogspot.com]
* The leading cause of global warming is from water vapor, then carbon dioxide emissions, nitrous oxides, and chlorofluorocarbons (used in household appliances like air conditioning).
* Chlorofluorocarbons are expected to be eliminated and put out of use by 2030 to help slow down global warming.
* The biggest business sectors that are contributing to global warming are the following: Industry, Transportation, Residential, Commercial, Agriculture.
* Methane is the second biggest cause of greenhouse warming. Gas from cows is a big contributor to global warming.
* A big enough volcano eruption could cool the earth for one or two years because sulfuric acid from the explosion would combine with water vapor to form a “shield” that would reflect some sunlight away from earth. Such an eruption would be quite catastrophic, though.
* The coloration of aerosols (miniscule particles in the air) generally changes their relationship with the sun. Lightly colored aerosols reflect light back away from earth (as a white t-shirt) while darker aerosols generally absorb heat (as a hot asphalt road when it is sunny).
* Generally, wispy clouds, such as cirrus clouds, trap light and thus warm the atmosphere whilst thick clouds generally reflect sunlight.
* Ice/snow cover cools the earth by reflecting sunlight.
* Without water vapor's effect on the atmosphere, the earth would be at below freezing temperatures.
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