Some disturbing facts concerning global resources

Direct citation from the Website of Sustainable Tourism

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS:

• Although the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas recycles its water – it still uses 12 million litres of water per year in a water scarce region
• Buying local could achieve a 4-5% reduction in GHG emissions due to large sources of C02 and non C02 emissions during the production of food
• The average Canadian household used 326 liters of water per day….a village of 700 in a developing country uses an average of 500 litres of water per month AND a luxury hotel room guest uses 1800 litres of water per person per night…
• The average person in the UK uses approximately 150 litres of water per day – 3 times that of a local village in Asia
• A species of animal or plant life disappears at a rate of one every three minutes
• 70% of marine mammals are threatened
• The Western world (with 17% of the worlds’ population) currently consumes 52% of total global energy.
• 1 acre of trees absorbes 2. 6tonnes of CO2 per year
• 58% of the worlds coral reefs are at risk. 2010 was the warmest year on record
• Seawater is expected to rise 70 cm in the next 10 years
• By 2050 climate change could have directly led to the extinction of 30% of species, the death of 90% of coral reefs and the loss of half the Amazon rainforest.
• Since 1970 a third of the natural world has been destroyed by human activity
• Half the world’s population lives in urban areas and this figure is expected to increase. In Latin America and the Caribbean, 76% of the population live in urban areas
• 10% of the worlds coral reefs are in the Caribbean – most under threat
• By 2036, there will be 1200 million cars on earth – double the amount today
• A European uses 14x more energy than someone living in India
• For every 1 degree rise in temperature above 34 degrees Celsius, yields of rice, maize and wheat in tropical areas could drop by 10%
• Every day we dump 90 million tons of carbon pollution into our atmosphere
• Although 70% of the earth’s surface is water, only 3% is potable