You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
1.6 percent
Global carbon dioxide emissions rose 1.6 percent in 2017, according to scientists with the Global Carbon Project, and are projected to grow 2.7 this year. This follows a largely flat period for emissions from 2014 to 2016. “We are in trouble,” the secretary-general of the United Nations said this week. [The Washington Post]
About $100 million
“Friends” is staying on Netflix, but at a price to the company — about $100 million. I’ve never seen “Friends,” but I’ve just now browsed its Wikipedia page, and I guess we could call this episode “The One With All the Cash to Burn.” [The New York Times]
57 percent of New Yorkers
Amazon is moving to Queens, and 57 percent of New Yorkers approve of it, according to a a Quinnipiac University poll. Only 26 percent oppose the move. The move is essentially a $2.8 billion gift from the residents of the city, complete with helipad, to the world’s richest man. Forty-six percent supported these tax breaks, while 44 percent opposed them. [Reuters]
24 hospitalized
Two dozen Amazon warehouse workers in New Jersey were sent to hospitals and more than 50 were affected by an incident involving a damaged aerosol can of bear attack repellent. It “dispensed strong fumes in a contained area of the facility,” according to a company spokesperson. [CBS News]
257 pounds of coins
An Austrian court has acquitted a German man known only as “Mr. H” who was arrested for his role in a scheme whereby he would travel to China with cash to purchase euro coins that had been left in scrapped cars and washing machines sent to that country for a fraction of their value and return with the haul to Austria. He was arrested with 257 pounds of these damaged coins in his car, totaling some $17,000. And while I don’t entirely understand the economics of this caper, I do love it, and it reminds me I need to cash in that jar sitting on kitchen counter. [BBC]
100 lawsuits; 350 athletes
USA Gymnastics, the sport’s national governing body, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday. It is facing 100 lawsuits involving 350 athletes in courts across the country. They blame the body for “failing to supervise Larry Nassar, a team doctor accused of molesting them.” The U.S. Olympic Committee has taken steps to strip USA Gymnastics of its status at the Olympic level, though the filing Wednesday may delay those efforts. [Associated Press]
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