Global Warming by the Numbers

Chilling statistics to think about

Posted: 24-Jan-2006; Updated: 24-Feb-2009

Rank of 2005 as hottest year on record
(tied with 1998), according to NASA.

Increase in intensity and duration
of hurricanes and tropical storms
since the 1970's, according to a 2005 MIT study.

Estimate of damage caused by
hurricanes hitting the U.S. coast in
2005 alone, according to the National Climatic Data Center.

Year by which Glacier National Park will have no glaciers left, according to the U.S. Geological Survey predictions.

Square miles of Arctic sea ice that have melted
in the last 30 years (roughly the size of Texas), threatening polar bear habitats and further accelerating global warming worldwide,  according to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment.

 Amount of plant and animal species that global warming could wipe out by 2050.

Rank of the United States as a global warming polluter
compared to other large nations.

Number of former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency leaders who say the U.S. is not doing enough to fight global warming.

Number of bills passed by Congress to cut global
warming pollution.

Tell Washington to take action »

Get more global warming facts »

See the 2007 version of this list »

Sources: NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2005 Study, Nature Magazine January 2004, National Climatic Data Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Arctic Climate Impact Assessment.