Answer to Question 1
The United States has a population of about 280 million. The world population is
approximately 6 billion. So, 6 billion times 57 GJ is 342 EJ, which is the current world use,
while if everyone were consuming at the U.S. consumption rate of 300 GJ per person this
Answer to Question 2
In Bt corn, the additional genetic material works against the European corn borer
by creating a protein that kills borer larvae. There are several problems. First, evolution will
eventually lead to development of resistance in the corn borer. Second, the pollen from the
Bt corn can drift and affect nearby corn crops.
In a controversial paper (Quist and Chapela, Nature, 2001; referenced in the book), it was
reported that Bt corn genes were transferred to other cops in Mexico. The paper generated
many critiques, but some of its main points remain still considered valid, even though the
publication withdrew it.
According to H. Hall, Bt corn: is it worth the risk?, The Science Creative Quarterly,
issue 2, Sept.-Nov. 2006, These benefits, real or imagined, have been used as leverage by
Bt corn proponents in the argument to accept what they argue are minimal levels of health
and environmental risk. Yet many consumer, civil rights, and environmental advocacy
groups characterize such arguments as industry propaganda, asserting that corporate
benefits should not out-weigh the undetermined human health, socioeconomic and
environmental risks. In the last analysis, we do not really know the risks, and proceeding
with Bt use is a reliance on hope that the designers knew what they were doing and that any
deleterious consequences will be minor.
Bipolar disease. The term bipolar means “pertaining to two poles.” The individual with this form of
Language is the basis of human culture around the world. The past decade has seen major developments ...
U.S. Energy Consumption
Average Years of Schooling versus GDP per Capita
World Inequality and Its Components, 1820–1992
Average Number of Days per Year with Thunderstorms