Posted by Melanie on April 22 at 10:09 PM
In celebration of Earth Day 2008, here are some cool facts about the Earth that everyone should know.
- The Earth is 4.5 to 4.6 billion years old
- Earth's human population is 6,660,000,000 (6.66 billion) as of April 2008
- Earth travels through space at 66,700 miles per hour
- Earth is the only planet on which water can exist in liquid form on the surface
- About 70% of the world’s fresh water is stored as glacial ice
- Only 11 percent of the earth's surface is used to grow food
- There are over 30 million species, 25% of which could be extinct by the end of this decade
- Plastics take 500 years to break down
- 14 billion pounds of trash is dumped into the ocean every year
- The average American's ecological footprint (the amount of productive land area required to sustain one human being) is 9.6 hectares, compared to 0.5 hectares for someone living in Bangladesh. Five Earths would be needed if everyone in the world consumed at the US rate.
To learn more about Earth Day and to calculate your
ecological footprint, visit
Earthday.net
Topics: free write, green, philanthropy SHARE: 
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