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Thursday, December 19, 2024

News Factoids for Fourth Quarter 2024

The International Energy Agency estimates that to meet climate targets, the world will need to add or replace around 80 million kilometres of the electric power grid by 2040, an amount equivalent to all that exists today.

Emerging science suggests that rapid intensification of storms is getting more common as climate change worsens.
~~ Boston Globe newsletter Starting Point

Bananas are the most popular fruit in the U.S.

The world is pumping out 57 million tons of plastic pollution each year.

A person is considered as having high blood pressure or hypertension if they have consistent readings of 130/80 or higher.

Between 2018 and 2022, the number of ghost guns - untraceable firearms from 3-D printers or at-home kits - that were recovered at crime scenes jumped from 3,960 to 25,785.

Listeriosis is the third leading cause of death from foodborne illness in the U.S.

The US economy is doing better than that of any other member of the rich countries club (aka the Group of Seven), the International Monetary Fund said. The global economy watcher upgraded its prediction for U.S. GDP growth to 2.8% this year, compared to the 0.9% average for all G7 countries.

A study completed by the US Geological Survey (USGS) using predictive modeling and AI found between 5 million and 19 million tons of lithium in the limestone Smackover Formation in southern Arkansas - enough to supply nine times the amount of lithium needed to meet the 2030 expected world demand for EV batteries.

In the Pakistani city of Lahore, roughly 15 miles from the Indian border, air quality in October surpassed a 'hazardous' 500 (p.p.m.) - almost 65 times the World Health Organization’s guidelines for healthy air — making it the most polluted city in the world.

In 1977, the USDA recommended that Americans eat less red meat and more poultry to reduce the risk of heart disease; by the 1980s, beef consumption was down 20%.

The Defense Department employs 1.4 million active-duty service personnel, more than 778,000 National Guard and reservists, and more than 747,000 civilians - that's about 2.91 million employees.

Nearly three-quarters of Americans are overweight or obese; the obesity rate for adults doubled between 1990 and 2021, to 40 percent; it has tripled for girls and women aged 15 to 24, to 29 percent.

Humanity will need 70% more food by 2050, when the world population hits 10 billion, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation trade group.

Circana BookScan found that sales of the Judeo-Xian Bible are up by 22% for the year through the end of October compared to the same period in 2023. Total US book sales were up by just 1% in the same period.

Coffee futures hit their highest level since 1977. The most popular kind of bean, arabica, has jumped ~70% this year to reach $3.18 per pound, while prices for cheaper robusta beans rose 7.7% to nearly double the price from the start of the year. Your (actual) morning brew will likely cost more as a result: Nestle, the world’s largest coffee company, said last month it will raise prices and shrink its packs. What’s going on? Poor growing weather in Brazil and Vietnam, the leading suppliers of arabica and robusta beans, respectively, has caused supply jitters.

More people are using Amtrak than ever before — 32.8 million riders this fiscal year, to be exact. The company says passengers can look forward to upgraded trains and better service in 2025 thanks to billions of dollars in investments.

This year is the hottest on record in Phoenix, Arizona, which saw temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit for 113 days in a row between May and September.

Japan is going on its 16th straight year of population decline.

Falls are the top cause of injury-related death among people over 64.

Washington State's Department of Agriculture announced that invasive 'murder hornets' have been eradicated in the U.S. Known for their dangerous sting, northern giant hornets gained attention in 2013, when they killed dozens of people in China and seriously injured more than 1,600 others.

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