National Geographic - USA (2020-04)

HONEYBEE

COLONIES

COLLAPSE

Beekeepers begin

reporting the mys-

terious disappear-

ance of worker bees,

which is leading to

the collapse of many

colonies.

2006

WHITE-NOSE SYNDROME

A fungus starts killing millions of American bats of

several species, including endangered little brown bats.

2006

SHARK FINNING
Scientists calculate that 26 million
to 73 million sharks are killed annually for their
fins. The shocking numbers raise alarm about
shark populations. 

2006

TOXIC WASTE

IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Waste containing hydrogen

sulphide and other chemicals

is dumped near the port

city of Abidjan. It kills 15

and sickens 100,000.

2006

CHINA RISING

With soaring coal

use fueling a booming

economy, China passes

the U.S. to become the

largest emitter of CO 2.

Its per capita emissions

remain far lower.

2006

LARSEN B ICE SHELF COLLAPSES

A NASA satellite documents the

breakup in a month of a 1,250-square-mile

ice shelf floating off the rapidly warming

Antarctic Peninsula.

2002

HURRICANE KATRINA

America’s costliest storm kills 1,833

people and floods 80 percent of New Orleans.  

2005

THE

HYBRID

REVOLUTION

Toyota’s Prius, the

first mass-produced

car with both a

gasoline engine

and an electric

motor, arrives in the

U.S. and becomes

an icon of fuel

efficiency. 

2000

ELECTRIC CARS

GET COOL

Tesla Motors, founded in

2003, releases its first car, the

completely electric two-door

Roadster. In company tests,

the sports car travels 245

miles on a single charge, an

unprecedented range for a

mass-produced electric car. 

2008

CALIFORNIA

GOES SOLAR

The state commits to

getting 20 percent of

its electricity from

renewables by 2017. 

It exceeds the

target—and raises it

to 100 percent by 2045.

2002

GLOBAL SEED BANK

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opens deep inside an Arctic mountain. Operated

by Norway, it can store the frozen seeds of up to 4.5 million crops as an insurance policy

for future generations.

2008

AL GORE’S

MOVIE

An Inconvenient

Truth helps raise

public awareness

about the threat of

climate change and

wins an Academy

Award for best doc-

umentary feature. 

But the moment

passes without sig-

nificant progress in

addressing the

threat.

2006

WORLD

POPULATION

IN 2000

6.1

BILLION

2000 S

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88 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC