Ecological footprint Earth Day
Human activities consume resources and produce waste, and as our populations grow and global consumption increases, it is essential that we measure nature’s capacity to meet these demands. The Ecological Footprint has emerged as one of the world’s leading measures of human demand on nature. Simply put, Ecological Footprint Accounting addresses whether the planet is large enough to keep up with the demands of humanity.
The Footprint represents two sides of a balance sheet. On the asset side, represents the planet’s biologically productive land areas including our forests, pastures, cropland and fisheries. These areas, especially if left unharvested, can also absorb much of the waste we generate, especially our carbon emissions.
Biocapacity can then be compared with humanity’s demand on nature: our Ecological Footprint. The Ecological Footprint represents the productive area required to provide the renewable resources humanity is using and to absorb its waste. The productive area currently occupied by human infrastructure is also included in this calculation, since built-up land is not available for resource regeneration.
Our current global situation: .
It now takes the Earth one year and six months to regenerate what we use in a year.
By measuring the Footprint of a population—an individual, city, business, nation, or all of humanity—we can assess our pressure on the planet, which helps us manage our ecological assets more wisely and take personal and collective action in support of a world where humanity lives within the Earth’s bounds.
Conceived in 1990 by Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees at the University of British Columbia, the Ecological Footprint is now in wide use by scientists, businesses, governments, agencies, individuals, and institutions working to monitor ecological resource use and advance sustainable development.
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Are ecological footprint is affected by the number of people on earth and how much we consume?
The Ecological Footprint is a resource accounting tool that measures how much...
What does a single veggie burger leave as an ecological footprint on our earth...? | Yahoo Answers
I liked what "x_killingthenameof_X" writes.
Something else to take into consideration is the cost to package, the effect that the package has upon the environment (plastic wrapping, cardboard box).
Shipping and all that have an effect as well - and one has to figure in how far things are being shipped, the effect that shipping has upon the environment.
I have no problem with not eating meat - I don't eat it. But your question brings up many variables that make for an interesting question.
Very good question. Gives a person something to think about.
@fusiliyyc I get that, but you can't write a piece that says there are no ecological limits and that the "footprint" concept is irrelevant.