|
Global Warming, by the Numbers* |
|
| 1°F | Average global increase in temperature during the past century |
| 150 | Estimated number of glaciers in Glacier National Park in 1910 |
| 30 | Current number of glaciers in Glacier National Park |
| 80% | Reduction in the famous "snows of Kilimanjaro" in the past century |
| 10% | Reduction in Arctic sea ice over the past 3 decades |
| 1/10 inch | Yearly rise in global sea level |
| 25 miles2 | Annual loss in Louisiana wetlands to rising sea level |
| 1.5 feet | Sea level rise that would destroy 75% of Louisiana's wetlands |
| 23 miles3 | Annual ice volume lost to melting of Alaska's glaciers |
| 2.5 feet | Mean elevation in the Maldives, island nation home to 369,000 people. |
| 7.9 feet | Maximum elevation in the Maldives |
| 100,000,000 | World population living within 3 feet of sea level |
| 8.8°F | Average temperature increase on west Antarctic Peninsula since 1950 |
| 20 feet | Amount of sea level rise that would occur if west Antarctic ice sheet were to break up |
*From Raging Forces, Life on a Violent Planet, 2007, Stone, George W., National Geographic, Washington, D.C.