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 News from the Field
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| What does a billion mean? |
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| The word “billion” seems to be slipping more and more easily into our conversations. |
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| Scientists talk about the concentration of contaminates in the water supply in terms of parts-per-billion. |
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| And, politicians discuss spending billions of dollars with the greatest of ease. |
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| Let’s put one billion into perspective: |
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- A billion seconds ago, it was 1976.
- A billion inches equals 15,780 miles—about the same distance as driving from Los Angeles to New York 5-1/2 times.
- A billion square feet equals 22,957 acres, or about 17,400 football fields.
- A billion teaspoons equals 1,302,083.3 gallons—which would fill two olympic sized pools (25m x 50m x 2m).
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| Of course, some water contaminants are dangerous in parts per billion levels—which is mind-boggling in itself! |
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