As we prepare for tomorrow’s countdown to 2009, our friends at Conservation International remind us that there are some other numbers we should keep in mind as we approach the new year:

4 - hours in which the world loses acres of tropical forest equivalent in size to the island of Manhattan

20 - percent of all global CO2 emissions caused by deforestation

2 trillion – amount in dollars that burning and clearing forests costs the global economy every year as valued through lost fresh water, food, timber and carbon reduction

70 – number of species of South and Central American frogs that have gone extinct, likely due to climate change.

95% – amount of living coral Australia’s Great Barrier Reef may lose by 2050 due to climate change.

25 – percent of all land animals and plants at risk of extinction due to climate change.

25% - amount of all emissions reductions called for by 2030 that could be achieved by conserving and restoring tropical forests.

143 million – acres of forest Conservation International has helped conserve over the last three years.

40 – number of cars, trucks and SUVs’ yearly emissions offset by conserving just one acre of threatened tropical forest

15 – the cost in dollars for protecting one acre of forest with Conservation International

takepart by protecting an acre today and help bring about numbers we can celebrate.