Potpourri ...

Red Meat Risks
Current and past researchers have been at odds regarding the role dietary fat plays in the incidence of breast cancer. According to a report published in the July Epidemiology, it is suggested that fat intake hasn't proved a relative factor. However, the consumption of red meat might. Recent studies performed over a period of six years and involving the dietary habits of 14,921 women found those who consumed red meat, consisting of beef, veal, lamb, pork and luncheon meats on a daily basis had nearly twice the risk of developing the cancer as did women who ate primarily fish, poultry and dairy products.

Our Local Nuclear Explosion: Good ol Sol

It only takes 40 minutes of sunshine energy falling on the U.S. to equal fossil-fuel energy consumed by the U.S. each year.
The estimated area of photovoltaic solar energy cells needed to prduce this U.S. annual consumption of energy is 58,360 square miles (a little larger than the state of Georgia's land area).
Yuma, AZ, is the sunniest city in the U.S. receiving 90% of all possible sun. Quillayute, WA, is the cloudiest city in the U.S., with an annual 241 days of overcast skies. (Garbage)

Warming Up
By combining errands into one trip, you can significantly lower your car's contribution to air pollution. More than half of the pollution that comes out of your car happen when your first start it. It takes several minutes to warm up a catalytic converter so that it operates efficiently. If the car seits for more than an hour, the cold start process begins again. (APCD, County of San Diego)

Two
researchers
from the University of
Indiana reported in the July 7
Nature that plants appear to pick up
a large fraction of pollution from auto-
mobiles, industry, and general human
activities. Seven and one half million
kilograms of these combustion by-
products, known as polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs) which include a number of
known or suspected carcinogens, erupt into the
U. S. atmosphere each year. Research data
confirmed that the outer tissues of plants
contain waxes which attract, accumulate and
deposit PAHs. The cumulative figures revealed
approximately 43.5 percent of the
pollution in the
northeast
quarter of
the United
States is
removed
by ground
vegetation.
Greenery as a Pollution Solution

Virtually 100% of car batteries returned to stations and dealers get recycled. (Woman's Day)

Consumers Want It
Consumers believe that retailers have important responsibilities for promoting the environment and recycling. A consumer survey by Penn + Schoen Associates and sponsored by a Plastics Industry group, found that 91% of consumers surveyed believe it is important for stores to post signs about which products are better for the environment; 76% want special section in stores devoted to products that are good for the environment; and, 93% feel it is important for stores to provide a place for container recycling. (COPE Newsletter)

One is every six trucks in the United States is a garbage truck. (Woman's Day)
States with botle-deposit laws have 35% to 40% less letter by volume. (Woman's Day)

Americans throw away enough aluminum every three months to rebuild our entire air fleet. (Woman's Day)

Largest River - Oldest, Deepest, Largest Lake

The Amazon, the world's largest river, discharges 7,060,000 cubic feet of water per second. This volume nearly equals that of all other large rivers combined. Lake Baikal, in Russia, is the oldest of all freshwater lakes (about 30 million years), the deepest (5,712 feet) and the greatest in volume (812 billion cubic feet). It supports the highest proporation (60%) of species that occur nowhere else on Earth. (Cousteau Almanac)

Who Cares About the Environment?
A Gallup pool conducted in 22 countries found surprisingly widespread concent about the environment in the "Third World" as well as in indutrialized nations. In a majority of the countries, environment ranked second only to economic woes as the most serious problem people felt their nations faced. When asked directly whether they want environmental protection or econmic growth to take priority, majorities in all but two nations, India and Turkey, chose the environment. (Wildlife Digest)

Avast there!
So vast is the world ocean that just one of its regions, the Pacific Ocean, is 25 percent larger than all of the land surface of the world combined. (The Cousteau Almanca)