Transcript Ecological Footprint

Introduction
 The human demand on
the Earth’s ecosystem is
known as the ecological
footprint.
 It is a comparison
between the Earth’s
capacity to regenerate
and how fast humans are
impacting the Earth in a
negative way.
Ecological Footprint
 It represents the amount
of biologically
productive land and sea
area needed to
regenerate the resources
a human population
consumes and to absorb
and render harmless the
corresponding waste.
Ecological Footprint
 There is a three year time
lag between ecological
footprint calculations due
to the time needed to
amass and analyze all the
data.
 For the year 2006, the
world’s ecological footprint
was 1.4 Earths.
 We are using up resources
faster than the Earth can
restore them. 
Canadian Fun Fact
 The first academic
publication about the
ecological footprint was by
William Rees (top right) in
1992.
 The ecological footprint
concept and calculation
method was developed as the
PhD dissertation of Mathis
Wackernagel (bottom right),
under Rees' supervision at
the University of British
Colombia in Vancouver,
Canada, from 1990-1994.
How is it calculated?
 It was unfortunately
calculated in different ways
by different groups of
people, which was a
problem. Thankfully there
are standards in place now
for its calculation.
 All ecological footprints
end with values
categorizing the following
areas: Carbon, Food,
Housing and Goods and
Services.
 Some of these may be
broken down further.
What things is the Ecological
Footprint used for?
Comparing lifestyle to sustainability and thus
influence government policy.
2) Educating people about over-consumption,
sustainability and carrying capacity and therefore
altering their behaviour.
1)
Ecological Footprints by Country
 If a country does not have
enough ecological
resources within its own
territory, then there is a
local ecological deficit and
it is called an ecological
debtor country.
 Otherwise, it has an
ecological remainder and it
is called an ecological
creditor country.
Canada’s Ecological Footprint
 From the 2006 data,
Canada’s ecological
footprint is 5.8 global
hectares per person.
 Considering Canada has a
capacity for 17.1 global
hectares per person, we are
only using a third of our
capacity.
 Therefore Canada is an
ecological creditor.
 This is due to Canada
covering a large area, but
having a small population.
World’s Ecological Footprint
 The world’s average ecological footprint in 2006 was 2.6 global hectares per
person, however the Earth was only regenerating at a rate of 1.8 global
hectares per person.
 Therefore in 2006 we were at a deficit of 0.8 global hectares per person.
 This is not good! 
Worst Ecological Footprints
 As of 2006, the following countries had the highest
ecological footprints (gha/person).
1) United Arab Emirates 10.3
2) Qatar 9.7
3) United States 9.0
4) Ireland 8.2
5) Kuwait 7.9
 This means they use a lot of resources per person.
 Why is there footprint so large???
Worst Ecological Footprints
 As of 2006, the following countries had the biggest
deficits in their ecological footprints (gha/person).
 These are the biggest ecological debtors!
1) United Arab Emirates -8.9
2) Kuwait -7.4
3) Cyprus -6.6
4) Bahrain -5.9
5) Qatar -5.8
 What do all these countries have in common???
Best Ecological Creditors
 As of 2006, here are the biggest ecological creditors
(gha/person):
1) Suriname 97.2
2) Guyana 62.2
3) Gabon 30.7
4) Dominican Republic 16.9
5) Congo 12.2
6) Canada 11.3
 Canada is the only industrialized nation of the 6 and was
the only one with an ecological footprint above 2.5.
Where do we go from here?
 What is needed is
worldwide change and fast.
 Nations must realize that
the current way of life in
many places is not
sustainable and must make
changes to accommodate
this cold, hard fact or else
long term sustainability of
nations and/or the human
race will be in jeopardy.
Suggested Changes
1) Get rid of fossil fuel
usage.
2) Low automobile
(transport vehicle)
usage.
3) Practice sustainable
agriculture and
forestry.
4) Maximize current
arable lands.
Time to calculate your ecological
footprint
 We will now each find, the present, best three and the
worst three countries ecological footprint and compare
it to the United States.
 Also, see how North Carolina fares with the other states.
 Then, compare Iredell county with the other counties in
North Carolina.
 How many counties are there in N.C.
 N.C. has three distinct geological regions. Name them
and compare their ecological footprints.
 What makes a ecological footprint?