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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 24, 2007

U.S. Hospital Bill Nearing $1 Trillion

America's hospital bill has nearly doubled in the past decade, according to the latest numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. U.S. hospitals charged $873 billion in 2005 - up from the $462 billion charged in 1997. The most recent numbers account for 39 billion hospital stays.

The average yearly rate of increase over the past several years in the national hospital bill was 4.5 percent. At this rate, researchers estimate that the annual national hospital bill may reach $1 trillion in the next year.

Imported Air Pollution

About 15 percent of the air pollution in the United States comes from overseas, according to a new report by the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"It is useful to understand how much air pollution is coming from areas outside our own region, so that when we're thinking about how to cut down ozone pollution concentrations, we can take into account what factors we have control over and what factors we don't," says Tracey Holloway, a professor of environmental studies.

Overall, computer models showed Asian and European emissions contributed 3 percent to 18 percent of total surface ozone on a monthly average basis across the United States.

Plants And Global Warming

So the world is heating up. Global warming, many say, threatens much of the balance of life. But are there benefits to the increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?

Well, yes, although they probably won't outweigh the negatives, say scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California. Plants will grow faster and become more drought-tolerant as higher levels of carbon dioxide make it easier for plants to retain water. High latitudes also will become more habitable, the scientists say, and new plant life will flourish where it otherwise couldn't survive.

Science Stumper

Christine Gazzillo of New Tampa was the first reader to answer our most recent trivia question: What is the average cost of having a baby in the United States, from the first prenatal visit to the baby's delivery? Answer: roughly $7,600 for an uncomplicated birth, including payments for hospital childbirth and prescription medicines, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Now for today's stumper: The writer and humorist Samuel Langhorne Clemens was known as Mark Twain. What is the scientific origin of his pen name? Send your answers to kloft@tampatrib.com. No phone calls, please.

Kurt Loft

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