Hawaii is the only US state that is not located in North America. It is part of the geographic region of Oceania which also includes Australia and Polynesia and separates the Eastern and Western hemispheres.
The U.S. has launched an effort to protect 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by the year 2030. Today, approximately 12% of the United States’ public lands are permanently protected through its national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and Tribal and state lands. Less than 8 percent of Puerto Rico’s land area is protected.(The Wilderness Society)
The American Bison was declared the national mammal of the United States on May 9, 2016, joining the Bald Eagle as one of the only two national animals of the United States.
The United States (9,833,517 km2 or 3,800,257 mi2) is more than twice the size of the European Union (4,475,757 km2 or 1,728,100 mi2).
44.36 % of the United States’ land is agricultural. (The World Bank).
With 4.24% of the world total human population, the United States consumes roughly 25% of the world’s resources; yet, it produces 3.01% more primary energy than it consumes, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Every state and territory, including Alaska and Hawaii, have recorded a high temperature of at least 100°F (37.8°C), according to NOAA, with many states well above 115°F (46.1°C) degrees.
The United States has the largest reserves of coal in the world; China, however, is the largest user and producer of coal.
More than 30% of the world’s nuclear energy is produced by the United States, the most of all countries, followed by China and France. The US exports 12.8% of the nuclear energy it generates to other countries.
The Everglades National Park in the state of Florida is the only ecosystem in the world where alligators and crocodiles co-exist side by side.
The US has the highest number of tornadoes than any other country (over 1,000 per year).
The United States loses about two million acres of forest, farm, and open space each year due primarily to human development activities and construction. (US Forest Service)
In the United States, 64% of lakes, 44% of streams, and 30% of the bays and estuaries are not clean enough for fishing or swimming due to industrial pollution and transportation, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Between 1980 and 2020, motor vehicle travel in the U.S. increased 85% (in miles travelled), energy consumption increased 19 percent, and U.S. population grew by 46 percent; however, total emissions of its principal air pollutants dropped by 73 percent, primarily due to mandates for higher fuel efficiency and cleaner fuels. (EPA – US AQ Summary)
The Bald Eagle, the national bird of the United States, is actually not bald. It gets its name from an older meaning of the word bald, which is “white headed.”
On the verge of extinction in the 1970s, the Bald Eagle was saved by efforts supported by the Endangered Species Actof 1973 and today has been upgraded to “threatened.” At present, there are more than 9,800 nesting pairs (male-female) in the US across all 50 states.
By 2043, the United States will no longer have a majority white ethnic population, and by 2060 the number of multiracial people will triple, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The IUCN lists 1,841 threatened, endangered, or vulnerable species in the United States. The U.S. Endangered Species Act, which became law in 1973, has been one of the world’s most effective laws for preventing and reversing the decline of endangered and threatened wildlife, with 99% of the species it has listed avoiding extinction and 56 species becoming being delisted as threatened.
