According to the United Nations, 852 million people in the world face starvation.  That is close to 1 of every 8 people. 

*     *     *
The body mass index (BMI) of a an individual measures the relative percentage of fat and muscle in the body by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared; meaning that since I weigh 62 kilograms and am 1.72 meters tall I have a BMI of 21.0.  Normal BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9, overweight is between 25 and 29.9, and Obese is 30 or greater.  America leads the world in obesity with 30.6 percent of the population having a body mass index of 30 and over.  That means that over 3 of every 10 Americans is clinically obese.  In contrast, only 2.6 percent of China’s population is obese.

The average American has a BMI of 29.8 while the average Chinese has a BMI of 21.1.  The average adult height of a American is 1.694 meters, which means that the average weight is 85.4 kilograms (188.3 pounds).  The average adult height of Chinese is 1.641 meters, which means that the average weight is 56.8 kilograms (125.2 pounds).  US America’s adult population numbers approximately 222,000,000.  China’s adult population numbers approximately 951,000,000.  That means that the America’s cumulative adult population weighs 19 billion kilograms (42 billion pounds) while China’s cumulative adult population weighs 54 billion kilograms (119 billion pounds). 

If Chinese adults weighed as much as American adults, it would add 27 billion kilograms (60 billion pounds) to China’s total human body mass.  That is greater than the entire weight of the American adult population by 142 percent.  If we consider fat and water to be of the same density where 1 kilogram of fat equals 1 liter, then that would mean 27 billion kilograms (60 billion pounds) of fat could fill the coliseum in Rome 1,000 times.

Vice versa, if Americans had a body mass index of 21.1, which would be considered healthy, then American adults would weigh approximately 60.5 kilograms (133 pounds).  That would eliminate over 5.5 billion kilograms (12 billion pounds) of human fat from the planet’s surface.  This year, Sudan will be short 720 million kilograms of food for its starving people.  Therefore, America’s excess fat alone could fix Sudan’s food shortage for over 7.6 years.

America’s population with diabetes is 19.5 million, 6.5 percent of the population.  China’s population with diabetes has grown to over 50 million, 3.8 percent of the population.  That number is expected to grow to 100 million by 2025.  In the past 10 years, China’s childhood obesity rate has doubled.  Over 8.1 percent of urban children are obese while only 3.1 percent of rural children are obese.  This is still far behind America’s childhood obesity rate of 15 percent. 

A study by a Cornell University nutritional biochemist named T. Colin Campbell revealed that US Americans consume 10 times more animal protein and 15 grams a day less fiber than the average Chinese.  In addition, whereas Chinese only get about 15 percent of their calories from dietary fat, Americans get close to 40 percent.  Campbell concludes that if Americans could reduce their calories from fat to 15 percent, they could reduce their risk of developing degenerative diseases like diabetes and cancer before the age of 65 by 80 to 90 percent.

*     *     *
There are now over 790 McDonald’s outlets and 1,200 Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets in China.  In 2005, McDonald’s opened its first drive though in China.  McDonald’s plans to open 300 new outlets in the country over the next 3 years, more than half of which will have a drive-thru.

 

Sources:
Chinese Children Taller and Heavier.  Xinhua News Agency.  December 31, 2006
http://www.china.org.cn/english/health/194691.htm.

Americans are Heavier Than Ever.  Aramark.  April, 2007.
http://www.aramark.com/PressReleaseDetailTemplate.aspx?PostingID=854&ChannelID=321.

Human Height.  Answers.com.  April, 2007.
http://www.answers.com/topic/human-height.

Chinese Body Mass Index Is Much Lower as a Risk Factor for Coronary Artery Disease.  American Heart Association, Inc.  2004. 
http://www.circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/109/14/e184.

Body Mass Index.  Answers.com.  April, 2007.
http://www.answers.com/body%20mass%20index.

Rights: Millions of Starving Shame the World, U.N. Says.  International Press Service News Agency.  April, 2007.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35166.

Obesity Skyrocketing in China as the Chinese Adopt Western Diets, Lifestyles.  News Target.  August 18, 2006.
http://www.newstarget.com/020042.html.

Obesity Explosion May Weigh on China’s Future.  National Geographic News.  August 8, 2006. 
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060808-china-fat.html.

Calculate Your Body Mass Index.  National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.  April, 2007.
http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmi-m.htm.

Chinese Diabetes Population Over 50 Million.  International Diabetes Federation.  November 9, 2004.
http://www.globalnews.idf.org/2004/11/chinese_diabete.html.

Study: 73M have diabetes or are at risk in U.S.  USA Today.  May, 2006. 
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-05-29-diabetes-study_x.htm.

Serious Food Shortages Emerging in Southern Somalia.  Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States.  April, 2007.
http://www.fao.org/News/GLOBAL/GW9711-e.htm.  

Sudan: Food Shortages Spreading Beyond Conflict Areas.  Refugees International.  2004.
http://www.refugeesinternational.org/content/article/detail/5134/.

China Studies Link Diet to Disease.  Cornell University.  Spring, 1995.
http://www.rso.cornell.edu/scitech/archive/95spr/cna.html.

McDonalds Expansion in China.  China Business News & Observer.  April 17, 2007.
http://cbnando.com/Html/Economic/2007-3/1/170942207.html.

Consumers in China Push Fast Food Expansion.  Finance Markets.  July 27, 2005.
http://www.financemarkets.co.uk/2005/07/27/consumers-in-china-push-fast-food-expansion/.

North America—USA—Health Statistics.  Asia—China—Health Statistics.  Health Statistics—Obesity by Country.  Nation Master.  April, 2007
http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/us-united-states/hea-health&all=1.
http://www.nationmaster.com/red/country/ch-china/hea-health&all=1.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_obe-health-obesity.

According to a recent study published in Science magazine, if trends in world fishing and climate change continue, seafood populations will be completely decimated by 2048.

*     *     *
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there is an estimated 1.38 × 1021 liters of water within Earth’s dynamic system.  However, only about 3 percent of the world’s water is fresh water.  Moreover, only about .3 percent of the world’s water is usable by humans.  With 6.57 billion humans on the planet, that leaves about 630 billion liters per person of accessible fresh water that we must share with the other living organisms on the planet.

The earth’s human population grew by nearly 200 percent in the twentieth century and the consumption of water by humans nearly tripled.  According to the World Bank, the world’s water demands double every 21 years, and about 95 percent of the world’s cities still dump their sewage directly into the water system.  According to the World Water Council, by 2050 the planet will be short about 17 percent of the water needed to feed the world’s population. 

In 2003, humans consumed roughly 3.5 quadrillion liters of water.  That comes to about 9.6 trillion liters per day, amounting to over 1,460 liters per person per day.  China’s annual water consumption is roughly 640 trillion liters per year.  That comes to about 1,350 liters per person per day, whereas US Americans consume closer to 1,735 liters.

Of all water consumption by humans on the planet, 69 percent goes to agriculture, most to livestock.  In the USA, for example, 80 percent of agricultural land is used to raise livestock.  And where it takes about 1,000 liters of water to grow 1 kilogram of grain, it takes about 15,000 liters of water to grow 1 kilogram of beef.  Water for personal use accounts for less than 10 percent of total water consumption, but is a growing concern as underdeveloped countries urbanize. 

China has roughly 22 percent of the world’s human population but access to only 8 percent of the world’s renewable fresh water.  China’s urban population uses approximately 220 liters per day per person for personal use, over 10 times that of the rural population.  From 1978 to 2004, China’s urbanization rate grew to 41.8 percent from 17.9 percent.  By the middle of the century, urbanization rates are forecasted to rise to 75 percent.  That being the case, China will have to make over 85 billion more liters of water accessible to urbanites per day.  A difficult feat considering 400 of China’s 660 major cities already suffer from insufficient water resources. 

In 2001, the Rio Grande failed to reach the Gulf of Mexico; and due to damning and irrigation, other great rivers like the Colorado and the Yellow at times barely trickle into the ocean while the Mekong and the Nile are in future threat of encountering the same problem--What did the fish say when it ran into a wall... Dam!  As a result, desertification is slowly claiming all the fertile lands in Egypt while the Gobi desert creeps at a rate of 3 kilometers per year towards Beijing—now only 160 kilometers away.


Sources

Where is Earth’s Water located?  USGS.  January, 2007. 
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/earthwherewater.html

How Much Water is there on Earth?  How Stuff Works.  January, 2007.  http://science.howstuffworks.com/question157.htm

World POPClock Projection.  U.S. census Bureau.  January, 2007. 
http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/popclockworld.html

Specter, Michael.  The Last Drop—Confronting the Possibility of a Global Catastrophe.  The New Yorker.  Oct. 23, 2006.  Pages 60-71.
Livestock Water Use.  USGS.  January, 2007. 
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/chickenhouse.html

Livestock a Major Threat to Environment.  Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.  January, 2007.
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html

Global Water Outlook to 2025: Averting an Impeding Crisis.  International Food Policy Research Institute.  January, 2007.
http://www.ifpri.org/media/water_countrydef.htm

Nation Sets Goals for Urban Water Consumption.  China.Org.Cn.  January, 2007.
http://www.china.org.cn/english/government/78565.htm

China, Canals & Coal.  EcoWorld.  January, 2007.
http://www.ecoworld.com/home/articles2.cfm?tid=347

China’s Urbanization Encounters “Urban Disease.”  Chinanews.cn.  January, 2007. 
http://www.chinanews.cn/news/2005/2005-11-18/14441.html

Global Water Shortage Looms in New Century.  Arizona Water Res.  January, 2007.
http://cals.arizona.edu/AZWATER/awr/dec99/Feature2.htm

Vaknin, Sam.  Who Owns the World’s Water?  The Progress Report.  January, 2007.
http://www.progress.org/2005/water27.htm

China Faces Growing Water Shortage.  World Politics Watch.  January, 2007.
http://www.worldpoliticswatch.com/article.aspx?id=151
China’s Season of Dust.  United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.  Unesco—The Courier.  June, 2006.
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=33187&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Before purchase, one 1.9 pound, 125 dollar, TMX Tickle Me Elmo speaking doll has already traveled the world.

*     *     *
One large, smooth-cayenne pineapple purchased in a Kansas City grocery store weighs approximately 5 pounds and is roughly 16 inches long and 8 inches wide.  Its mother plant was grown in the humid Hawaiian climate for roughly 18 months before producing its first fruit, and has put out new fruit approximately every 14 months.

To get to Kansas City, the pineapple was loaded into a freight container that measures 8 feet wide, by 8.5 feet tall, by 20 feet long.  That means that just over 2,300 pineapples could fit into one freight container, making the freight container weigh approximately 11,500 pounds, or just under 6 tons.  The freight container was then loaded onto the Mahi Mahi container ship using machinery manufactured in South Korea over 4,500 miles away, with parts made in southern China 1,300 miles from South Korea, with resources mined in Central Africa 5,500 miles from southern China.  Built in 1983, the Mahi Mahi has a capacity of 30,825 deadweight tons.  One deadweight ton is equivalent to 2240 tons.  That means the single pineapple accounts for about 1/13,809,600th of the Mahi Mahi’s total cargo, fully loaded.  

The Mahi Mahi consumes over 53 gallons of fuel per mile**.  The distance between Honolulu’s shipping harbor and that of Los Angeles, California is nearly 2,562 miles, a trip that takes 1 week.  That means that in one run from Honolulu to Los Angeles, the cargo ship consumes approximately 136,850 gallons of fuel.  Being 1/13,809,600th of the total cargo, the one pineapple is then responsible for burning roughly 1/13,809,600th of the fuel consumed in the cargo ship’s run.  So the one pineapple so far is responsible for the consumption of roughly 0.01 gallons, or 2.56 tablespoons, of fuel. 

The fuel used in container shipping, the left over dregs in the petroleum refining process, called bunker fuel, contains up to 5,000 times more sulfur than diesel fuel does.  Though ocean shipping is only responsible for 2-3 percent of the world’s fossil-fuel consumption, it produces 14 percent of the world’s nitrogen oxides and 16 percent of the world’s sulfur emissions; accounting for the semi-permanent clouds that hover above shipping routes.  Worldwide shipping is expected to triple by 2020 due to global trade agreements, and there still exists little to no emission regulations for container shipping.

After arriving in Los Angeles, the container of pineapples was offloaded at the shipping docks and resorted in a fruit broker’s facility, then reloaded into an 8 x 8.5 x 53 foot container.  That container was then loaded onto a semi-tractor trailer that carries a maximum weight of 40,000 pounds by US law.  Being completely filled with fruit, it would weigh closer to 34,000 pounds.  A semi-tractor trailer fully loaded gets approximately 5.5-7 miles per gallon and is exempt from most federal or state laws concerning fuel efficiency.  Assuming that the semi-tractor trailer carrying the pineapple gets 7 miles per gallon of diesel fuel, and the road distance between Los Angeles and Kansas City is just over 1,600 miles, the journey would consume about 229 gallons of diesel fuel.  Being that the 1 pineapple is approximately 1/6,800th of the total cargo, then 1/6,800th of the fuel consumed for that one pineapple is roughly .03 gallons of fuel, or 7.68 tablespoons. 

Therefore, the consumption of that pineapple purchased in that Kansas City grocery store is responsible for the consumption of at least 10.24 tablespoons of refined petroleum products.  After peeling and coring a 5 pound pineapple, it weighs closer to 3.5 pounds.  Three and one half pounds of pineapple can produce approximately 40 tablespoons of juice.  Therefore, every four cups of pineapple juice is responsible for the consumption of at least 1 cup of refined petroleum products.  

*     *     *
There are currently over 1.2 billion cellular phones in use worldwide.  That means that there are just about 5 people per cell phone on the planet.  They are currently discarded at a rate of about 125 million per year.  Cell phones contain approximately 40% metals, metals that come from South and North America, Australia, Asia, Europe, and Africa.  One cell phone battery contains about 2 ounces of coltan, a metal used to make portable electronic devices like laptop computers, cameras, MP3 players and cell phones more compact.  Approximately 80% of the world’s proven coltan reserves are found in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

The Second Congo War officially started in 1998 and ended in 2003.  The Rwandan Army funded the war with as estimated $250 million in profits from the export of roughly 2.7 million pounds of coltan in less than 16 months.  In 1998, international prices soared from $60 per kilogram (2.2 pounds) to $200.  The majority of the coltan deposits were located in eastern Congo far from any potential Congolese military protection; and they were therefore easily conquered and the mines confiscated by the Rwandan Army who paid as little as $10 dollars per kilo in slave-like working conditions.  The Second Congo War resulted in at least 3.3 million deaths.  Therefore, the war is responsible for over 1 death for every pound of coltan exported during that time.  With 2 ounces of coltan per cell phone battery, it would take less than 7 cell phone batteries to account for 1 death in the Second Congo War.  I personally own 4 cell phone batteries, one laptop computer, a digital camera, a digital camcorder and a brand new shiny MP3 player.
** Statistics for container shipping fuel efficiency is very secretive.  The Arafura container ship that runs between Australia, Japan and Korea has a capacity of 23,009 deadweight tons, or 51,540,160 pounds.  Green Plus, a company producing an additive meant to increase the efficiency of cargo shipping, ran tests on the Arafura and found it to consume close to 53 gallons of fuel per mile.  The Arafura has a carrying capacity roughly 25% smaller than the Mahi Mahi, meaning that the Mahi Mahi likely consumes more fuel per mile than the Arafura.  However, being that the Arafura is the only ship with fuel consumption statistics, it will stand to represent the Mahi Mahi at a consumption rate of 53 gallons of fuel per mile. 

Sources:

Arafura Container Ship (1986-2002).  Board of Trade Acquaintances.  November, 2006.
http://www.botacquaintances.co.uk/ships_a-g/Arafura.html

What Does it Cost to Dispose of a Cell Phone?  Berkeley Energy Office.  November, 2006.
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/sustainable/residents/TrueCosts/CellPhone.html
Hawaii Service Schedule.  Matson Shipping.  November, 2006.
https://www.matson.com/fss/reports/haw_s.pdf

U.S. Flag Oceangoing Fleet.  U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration.  November, 2006.
http://www.marad.dot.gov/MARAD_statistics/2005%20STATISTICS/U%20S%20-flag%20fleet%202005.pdf

Arafura Container Ship Fuel Economy Tests.  Green Plus.  November, 2006.
http://www.biofriendly.com/maritime/totvoy.htm

How Far is it? Indo.com.  November, 2006.
http://www.indo.com/distance/

EPA to Regulate Air Pollution from Big Ocean Vessels, San Diego Earth Times.  November, 2006.
http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et0201/et0201s14.html

Ship it, Ship it Good, Grist Environmental News and Commentary.  November, 2006.
http://www.grist.org/biz/tp/2006/05/23/shipping/
Policy Discussion – Heavy-Duty Truck Fuel Economy, National Commission on Energy Policy.  November, 2006.
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/pdfs/deer_2004/session6/2004_deer_kodjak.pdf

The Life Cycle of a Cell Phone, Environmental Protection Agency.  November, 2006.
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/education/pdfs/life-cell.pdf

Coltan, Gorillas, and Cell-phones, Cellular-News.  November, 2006.
http://www.cellular-news.com/coltan/

War, Murder, Rape… All for Your Cell Phone, AlterNet.  November, 2006.
http://www.alternet.org/story/41477/

And thanks to Wikipedia for its information on coltan, Second Congo War, semi-tractor trailer, and cargo ship. 

The Year 2006 approaches its end, and there are now 300 million people in the United States of America.  Meanwhile, the population of the People’s Republic of China continues to climb above 1.3 billion.  That is 4.3 times the population of the USA.

The USA presently consumes an average of 20.7 million barrels of petroleum per day.  China consumes an average of 6.4 million barrels of petroleum per day.  Therefore, the USA consumes 3.2 times as much petroleum as China.

One barrel of crude petroleum is 42 gallons.  That means that the average Chinese consumes 1/5th of a gallon of petroleum per day; and the average US American consumes close to 3 gallons per day.  That is 15 times as much as the average Chinese.

Refined petroleum breaks down to 51.4% finished motor gasoline, 15.3% distillate fuel oil, 12.6% jet fuel and the rest as still gas, marketable coke, residual fuel oil, liquefied refinery gas, asphalt and road oil, lubricants and other refined products.  In the process of refining, one 42-gallon barrel of crude petroleum actually grows to 48.4 gallons of refined petroleum products.  So the average US American actually consumes 3.3 gallons of refined petroleum products daily.

If China consumed as much crude petroleum per capita as the USA, they would consume over 89 million barrels per day.  Globally, proven petroleum reserves total approximately 1.3 trillion barrels.  So if China consumed as much per capita as the USA, then the USA and China combined would consume over 40 billion barrels annually, depleting the world’s proven petroleum reserves within 32 years.  Accounting for the rest of the countries on the world, proven petroleum reserves would be gone within 20 years. 

China presently averages 133 people per automobile.  The USA averages about 1.6 people per automobile.  That means that China only has approximately 10 million automobiles on the road compared to 187 million automobiles on US American roads.  China is expected to account for 18% of the world’s future growth in car sales over the next 10 years, and Chinese car makers are among the fastest growing companies in the world.  

*   *   *
The USA consumes close to 3.8 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.  About 24% of that total electricity is created in coal-fired power plants.  China consumes close to 1.8 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.  Roughly 75% of that electricity is created in coal-fired power plants.  Over 95% of China’s coal-fired power plants do not meet the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol; but China is exempt from this as it is considered a developing country.

China’s energy demand is expected to grow to 3 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year by 2020.  China presently consumes about 28% of the world’s coal.  Even at such consumption rates, the world’s proven coal reserves are estimated to last at least another 155 years.  And with over 26% of the world’s coal reserves, the USA has the potential to become the next Saudi Arabia. 

Of the 20 most polluted cities in the world, 16 are in China.  The USA presently emits close to 6 trillion metric tons of carbon dioxide annually from the combustion of fossil fuels.  China presently emits close to 4 trillion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year from the combustion of fossil fuels.  By 2025, China is expected to emit more carbon dioxide (likely responsible for global warming) and sulfur dioxide (responsible for acid rain) than the USA, Japan, and Canada combined.

In 2005, China’s industry for export was valued at $762 billion.  China’s industry for domestic consumption was valued at $640 billion.  That means that in 2005, roughly 55% of industry in China was for foreign consumption. 

65% of all primary energy consumption in China is for the industrial sector.  So if 55% of the industrial sector is to satisfy foreign consumer demands, then 36% of all energy consumption in China is in the name of foreign countries – mostly developed countries who on their home soil would be obligated to follow the Kyoto Protocol (other than the USA who refused to sign the treaty.)


Sources:

China Population, China Population Information and Research Center.  October, 2006.
http://www.cpirc.org.cn/en/eindex.htm

World Petroleum Consumption 1960-2004, Energy Information Administration, Official Energy Statistics from the US Government.  October, 2006. 
http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/txt/ptb1110.html

Energy Summary of China, Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum.  October, 2006.
http://www.cslforum.org/china.htm

Energy Summary of USA, Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum.  October, 2006.
http://www.cslforum.org/usa.htm

The World Factbook, China,   Central Intelligence Agency.  October, 2006.
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ch.html