Facts About the Planet

Just some facts about the planet and the environment.

The Earth’s surface area is 148,940,000 km², of which 18,617,500 km² (12.5%) is inhabited by people.

If Africa’s population continues to grow at the same rate as it did in 2011–2012, the continent’s total population will reach 3.6 billion by 2100. It is noteworthy that the population growth rate in Africa is 2.3 percent per year, while in Asian countries it is only 1 percent. On the other hand, however, the population of Asian countries is already too large, so it is unlikely that Asia will ever fall behind Africa in terms of population.

The world’s population increases by approximately 9,000 people every 60 minutes. It is noteworthy that 3.4 billion people currently live in urban areas, and by 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities.

Approximately 2.7 billion people live near or within river basins. This means that for about 30 days a year, they cannot even meet their needs for clean drinking water.

In 1960, the demand for clean drinking water among residents of the Middle East was 3,300 liters per year. Today, this demand is approaching the minimum sanitary standard of 1,000 liters per year and stands at 1,250–1,300 liters. Incidentally, water supply problems are faced not only by residents of the Middle East but also by a number of Asian countries, such as India, Pakistan, and China. Moreover, recently, an alarming trend of drinking water shortages has also emerged in the United States. It is noteworthy that the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) stated in its fourth report for 2012 that by approximately 2030, two-thirds of the Earth’s total population will experience severe water stress, a scenario also projected for 2050.

Why isn’t the planet Earth helping the starving in Africa? It’s very simple: to provide a tribe of 350–500 people with food of average quality, an area roughly the size of the Czech Republic is needed. It is practically impossible to create such conditions in the modern world; although there is land available for cultivation, it is unlikely that a large number of people would engage in this on a volunteer basis.

Austin Troy of the University of Vermont established a link between the amount of green space and the crime rate in the city of Baltimore. This correlation was as follows: an increase in the area of green spaces in urban areas led to a 12% decrease in crime.

Five metric tons of cosmetics (sunscreen, skin creams, lipstick, and eyeshadow) end up in the world’s oceans every year. A woman’s body absorbs 2.5 kg of cosmetics annually.

Every year, about 125 million fully functional cell phones are thrown into landfills worldwide simply because their owners have grown tired of them.