Global warming is the most serious environmental threat of our time. These figures will startle you and hopefully get you thinking about what you can do to stop global warming!

1

The rank of the United States as the top global warming polluter in the world.

25%

The percentage of carbon dioxide emissions in the world for which the US is responsible.

1

Rank of 2006 as the hottest year on record in the continental United States.

20%

The percent increase of America's carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels since 1990 - that's not even 20 years!

15%

Percent increase of America's carbon dioxide emissions forecasted by 2020 if we do not cap pollution.

796,000,000

The approximate number of motor vehicles in the world today. The global fleet of motor vehilcles grows at the rate of 16,000,000 per year. The carbon dioxide emissions from these cars are a leading cause of global warming.

9%

Since the 1970s, the size of the glaciers of the Artic, which serves as the world's "air conditioner," is getting smaller by 9% a decade.

80%

Percent decrease in US global warming pollution required by 2050 to prevent the worst consequences of global warming.

78

Number of days by which the US fire season has increased over the past 20 years. The figure is closely tied to increased temperatures and earlier snowmelt.

200 million

Number of people around the world who could be displaced by more intense droughts, sea level rise and flooding.

75%

The annual increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide is due to the burning of fossil fuels.

25%

The percentage of carbon dioxide produced directly by human activity. This includes forests being converted to rangelands, rangelands to agriculture, and agriculture to urban areas.

100%

Increase in intensity and duration of hurricanes and tropical storms since the 1970's, according to a 2005 MIT study.

$100 billion

Estimate of damage caused by hurricanes hitting the U.S. coast in 2005 alone, according to the National Climatic Data Center.

2030

Year by which Glacier National Park will have no glaciers left, according to the U.S. Geological Survey predictions.

400,000

Square miles of Arctic sea ice that have melted in the last 30 years (roughly the size of Texas), threatening polar bear habitats and further accelerating global warming worldwide, according to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment.

15-37%

Amount of plant and animal species that global warming could wipe out by 2050.

100%

The projected growth of the US economy by 2030.

0

Number of federal bills passed to cap America's global warming pollution.

1

Number of times President Bush has mentioned "climate change" or "global warming" in his previous State of the Union addresses.

Sources:
Stop Global Warming
Environmental Defense Action Fund
Global Warming Facts
Physics Today