Weight of vending machine that toppled over, killing Bishop's University student trying to rock a drink loose: 418 kg
Number of deaths caused by toppling-over vending machines in past 20 years: 35
Injuries: 140
Number of African elephants in 1930: between 5 and 10 million
In 1989: 600 000
Number of elephants in captivity in the US: 624
In Canada: 45
Proportion of Canadians who admit to having secretly clipped flowers
from a public or neighbour's garden: 17%
Proportion of hits made with wooden baseball bats in which the ball's speed breaks 100 km/h: 2%.
Proportion of hits made with aluminum bats in which ball speed exceeds 160 km/h: 37%
Number of asteroids in our solar system bigger than 1 km in diameter, the minimum size posing a catastrophic risk to humans: 700 000
Odds the earth will experience a catastrophic collision with an asteroid over the next century: 1 in 5000
Number of people known to have attempted trip over Niagara Falls with safety device such as a barrel: 15
Survivors: 5
Number of people to have survived a deliberate plunge over Niagara Falls without a safety device: 1
Rate at which water rushes over Niagara Falls: 568 000 L/second
Total annual grocery purchases in North America: $500 billion
Purchases of grocery items with reduced fat, salt or sugar: $5 billion
Tonnes of salt produced annually in Canada: 12.5 million
Tonnes of salt spread annually on country's highways, roads and sidewalks: 5 million
Work-related fatalities in Canada, 1999: 835
In 2001: 920
Percentage increase: 10.2
Amount spent annually by insurance companies to help Canadians recover from soft-tissue injuries resulting from car accidents: $4 billion
Proportion by which neck injuries that could be reduced if automobile headrests were adjusted properly: 40%
Number of Canadians licensed to conduct exhibition fireworks demonstrations: 16 500
Number of fireworks-related injuries sustained by Canadian children between 1990 and 1998: 175
Proportion sustained by males: 77%
Proportion of injuries requiring admission to hospital: 12.6%
Number of people working as truck drivers, Canada's most common occupation: 263 000
Proportion who are female: 3%
Average length of time required for a solar eruption to cover the 150 million km separating sun from earth: 48 to 72 hours
Length of time required for the Oct. 30, 2003, solar eruption to reach earth: 19 hours
Proportion of Chinese who rate their country's economy as good to very good: 82%
Proportion of Japanese who rate their country's economy as good to very good: 2%
Number of Canadian adults who access the Internet from home: 15.1 million (63.1%)
Of Canadian adults who access the Internet from home, the proportion with a high-speed connection: 48%
Number of square km of the Brazilian Amazon rain forest lost to deforestation in 2001: 25 500
Proportion of deforested land in Brazil used to create cattle ranches: 80%
Average annual rainfall in the Brazilian Amazon: 2500 mm
In London, England: 610 mm
Average annual rainfall in Vancouver: 1155 mm
Footnotes
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Compiled by Shelley Martin, Senior Analyst in the CMA's Research, Policy and Planning Directorate.