1,001 Facts That Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader (72 page)

535

FACT :
Heavy rains and flooding in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal in 1997 to 1998
left thousands dead
and another 30 million injured or displaced.
All of them employed by Dell Tech Support.

“Six Chilling Ice Storms, Tsunamis and Floods,” WebEcoist,
www.webecoist.com
.

National Weather Service, Climate Prediction Center, Asia,
www.cpc.noaa.gov
.

536

FACT :
A 1998 storm pelted Quebec, Canada with freezing rain and
enveloped the city in a layer of cement-like ice
, causing thirty deaths and weeks of electric power outages for millions of Canadians.
When did Canada get electricity?

“Six Chilling Ice Storms, Tsunamis and Floods,” WebEcoist,
www.webecoist.com
.

537

FACT :
The North American monsoon, also known as the Arizona monsoon or Mexican monsoon, can send
a daily deluge of thunderstorms
across parts of the southwestern United States and Mexico, causing flash floods, lightning strikes, and other potentially deadly conditions.
I blame identity problems. The storm is probably just pissed because no one can decide on its name.

“Monsoons Strike Again: Dam Break in the Grand Canyon,”
About.com
Weather, August 17, 2008,
www.weather.about.com
.

“Reports To The Nation: The North American Monsoon,” National Weather Service, Climate Prediction Center,
www.cpc.noaa.gov
.

538

FACT :
For the last fifteen years, Indonesia has been plagued by so many wildfires that breathing air near the burn sites is at times equivalent to
smoking eighty packs of cigarettes
a day.
But for Indonesians on a budget, it’s a lot cheaper.

“Six Worst Raging Fires and Explosive Volcanoes,” WebEcoist,
www.webecoist.com
.

539

FACT :
The most destructive volcanic eruption of the twentieth century occurred in 1991 at Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines. The blast was so powerful that
it caused a global sulfuric haze and a temperature drop of almost one degree Fahrenheit
around the world.
But don’t worry, global warming took care of that temperature drop within a day or two.

“Six Worst Raging Fires and Explosive Volcanoes,” Web-Ecoist,
www.webecoist.com
.

540

FACT :
Heat waves are one of the most lethal types of weather phenomena, claiming an average of 1,000 lives in America’s fifteen largest cities each year.
Heat is especially deadly for senior citizens
, who are often too frail or afraid to leave their homes.
Or unwilling to miss the thrilling conclusion of
Matlock
. He’s something else, that Matlock.

Lori Sharn and Carol J. Castaneda, “Human Nature Adds to Weather Death Toll,” USA Today, July 8, 1999,
www.usatoday.com
.

541

FACT :
The 1988 heat wave and drought across the eastern United States cost the country
$61.6 billion in damages
and caused an estimated 5,000–10,000 deaths.
Luckily, we’ve gotten better at estimating death numbers since then.

Lori Sharn and Carol J. Castaneda, “Human Nature Adds to Weather Death Toll,” USA Today, July 8, 1999,
www.usatoday.com
.