Ecological Footprint

With Earth Day upon us, it’s a good time to ask a simple question: How energy efficient do you consider yourself? A few days ago, I would have rated myself a 3.5 on a scale of 1 – 5. But recently a colleague challenged me to take an “Ecologi cal Footprint Quiz.” At the end, it tells you how many “Earths”…

Long criticized for its environmental record, Qatar has now earned a new dubious distinction – as having the world’s largest ecological footprint, a new report issued by the World Wildlife Fund has found. The country, which will host the UN Climate Summit this year, has put the biggest demand on the…

By Elaine Watson, Loma Linda, CaliforniaElaine Watson, Loma Linda, California , 28-Feb-2013 Last updated on 01-Mar-2013 at 21:10 GMT If the evidence that plant-based diets are better for human health is compelling, the evidence that they are better for the planet is indisputable, delegates at the 6th…

It s difficult in early April in Boston not to notice the weather. Or the sun. Or the warmth. Or, by extension, all the attention that’s paid to nature, the environment and sustainability — especially as the 40th anniversary of Earth Day draws near. Which got me to thinking, what’s the ecological footprint…

Ecological Footprint measures humanity’s demand on the earth’s ecological capacity. This ecological capacity, known as Biocapacity, is the area of biologically productive land and sea required to provide the resources we use and to absorb our waste. Ecological footprint includes all the cropland, grazing…

We need 1.5 Earths to sustain our lavish lifestyles? Rubbish, says New Scientist s environment consultant: that s a publicity stunt which doesn t measure our overuse of resources HAVE you heard the one about the 1.5 Earths? Chances are you have: it is one of the most widely quoted ecological…

Photo: Franz Drewniak/Creative Commons Sometime later this year the human population will pass the 7 billion mark. As I write this we re at 6.9 billion and ticking upwards by about one person a second, or so the population clock at Global Population Speak Out tells me. Even with the widely (widely) disparate…

Unique among African countries, the ancient Ethiopian monarchy maintained its freedom from colonial rule with the exception of a short-lived Italian occupation from 1936-41.A constitution was adopted in 1994, and Ethiopia s first multiparty elections were held in 1995. Geography : Location: Eastern Africa…

The US remains the world s most powerful nation state and the world s largest consumer economy. Geography : North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico. Geographic coordinates: 38 00 N, 97 00 W total area: 9, 826, 675 sq km People : Population:…