• percent by which global energy use has increased since 1970

• percentage of the world’s commercially important marine fish stocks that are fully fished, over-exploited, or depleted

• percentage of the roughly 3,000 plants identified as having cancer-fighting properties that grow in rainforests

• percentage of irrigation water in developing nations that never reaches crops due to evaporation or runoff

Grist thanks its sponsors. Become one.

• percent by which nations have cut their consumption of ozone-depleting substances since 1987

• percentage of electricity in China generated by coal

• percentage of the garbage that Americans create that could be composted

• percentage of world water consumption accounted for by agriculture

Grist thanks its sponsors. Become one.

• number of catalogs expected to be produced for every woman, man, and child in the U.S. in 2002

Sources:
1 — World Resources Institute
2, 3 — Natural Resources Defense Council
4-6 — World Resources Institute
7 — 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth
8 — World Resources Institute
9 — Boston Globe