Earth Day 2023: Facts and figures

Earth Day, celebrated each year on April 22, is marked by around one billion people across more than 190 countries
  

5 trillion 
Number of plastic bags expected to be used in 2023 – 160,000 every second

583 billion 
Estimated number of plastic bottles produced in 2021 – 100bn more than five years earlier


70% 
Global decline in animal populations over last 50 years, due to human activity

10,000 times 
Accelerated rate at which animal species are becoming extinct, compared to normal levels


10-20 
Years one tree must live to have meaningful effect on environment

4.7 million 
Hectares of forest cover removed from planet each year
     

5,000
Fall in number of bee species from 2006 to 2015 – 25% of all bee species

300 million 
Number of flowers one bee colony can pollinate per day


68,000 
Litres of water needed to produce half of one kilo of beef
                         
20 times 
Higher rate of greenhouse gas emissions from beef compared to plants such as beans

   
Sources: Sky News, Earth Day
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