Environment Trivia

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Throughout history, more ships have been sunk by hurricanes than by war.

The aurora borealis, the aurora of the earth's Northern Hemisphere, is also called the Northern Lights and aurora Polaris. The aurora australis, the aurora of the Southern Hemisphere, is also called the Southern Lights.

To grow properly, orchids require moving air. They do best where there is a steady breeze.

The average American uses eight times as much fuel energy as an average person anywhere else in the world.

The average computer chip plant produces 4 million gallons of wastewater and thousands of gallons of corrosive hazardous materials a day, such as hydrochloric and sulfuric acid.

The average daily growth of a bamboo plant is 35.4 inches.

On November 12, 1970, the deadliest tornado of the twentieth century swept through Bangladesh. Afterwards, 200,000 people were dead and 100,000 people were missing. The country was hit by the second deadliest tornado in 1991, when 131,000 people were killed. Two more cyclones were suffered in 1963 (22,000 dead) and 1965 (47,000 dead).

The five deadliest hurricanes of the 20th century were Hurricane Mitch in 1998 where 11,000 people were killed; 1900's hurricane in Glaveston, Texas where 8,000 were killed; Hurricane Fifi in 1974 where 8,000 were killed; 1930's hurricane in the Dominican Republic where 8,000 were killed; and Hurricane Flora in 1963 where 7,200 people were killed.

A "fulgerite" is fossilized lightning. It forms when a powerful lightning bolt melts the soil into a glass-like state.

A "pogonip" is a heavy winter fog containing ice crystals.

A 120-foot oak tree grows from a three-quarter-inch-long acorn.

A beautiful mirage called the Fata Morgana appears in the Straits of Messina, between Sicily and Italy. It is an image of a town in the sky, but it seems more like a fairy landscape than a real town. It is believed to be a mirage of a fishing village situated along the coast.

A bolt of lightning can strike Earth with a force as great as 100 million volts.

A bolt of lightning travels at speeds of up to 100 million feet per second, or 72 million miles per hour.

To help them last longer, put the cut ends of chrysanthemums in very hot water for a moment and then straight into very cold.

A cloud forest has a huge number of animals and plants. The cloud forests of Monteverde, Costa Rica, have over 425 species of birds and countless varieties of insects.

To qualify as a hurricane, a storm must develop winds in excess of 75 miles per hour. Wind speeds as high as 220 miles per hour have been recorded.

A cold front travels at a speed of about 30 miles per hour, faster than the fastest person can run. It may overtake any warm front ahead of it. The resulting mix of air is called an occluded front.

To save a 40-foot tree, a stack of newspapers averaging 4 feet in thickness must be recycled.

The average diameter of a one-carat diamond is 6.42 mm.