1. Ecological Footprint

2.  Ecological Footprint measures how
much land and water area a human
population requires to produce the
resources it consumes and to absorb
its wastes under prevailing technology
 That is, it measures the extent to which
humanity is using nature's resources
faster than they can regenerate

3. So Where are We At?
 The footprint is a resource accounting tool
that can help us plan for a world in which we
all live well, within the means of our one
planet
 But today, humanity's Ecological Footprint
is over 23% larger than what the planet can
regenerate
 It now takes more than one year and two
months for the Earth to regenerate what we
use in a single year

4. Ecological Overshoot
 When humanity's ecological resource
demands exceed what nature can
supply, we reach ecological overshoot
 The effects: collapsing fisheries,
carbon-induced climate change,
species extinction, deforestation, and
the loss of groundwater
 The human footprint has more than
tripled since 1960

5. Humanity's Footprint
1961-2003
 How many Earths were needed to meet the
resource requirements of humanity for each
year?
 Ratio between
resource demand &
Biocapacity
 Demand = population
times per capita
consumption
 Biocapacity = 1planet

6. World Ecological
Footprint

7. Components of the World's
Average per Person

8. Some Definitions
 CO2 is carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas
 CO2-e is the equivalent in CO2 of all greenhouse
gasses including methane and fluorocarbons
 Bts is the weight of greenhouse gasses in the
atmosphere as billion tonnes metric
 ppm is the ratio of the number of greenhouse gas
molecules to the total number of molecules of dry
air as parts per million
 IPCC is the UN International Panel on Climate
Change

9. Predictions
 Recent research shows that there is a
ten percent risk that we will pass an
irreversible tipping point in the
next five years
 Greenhouse-gas concentrations in the
atmosphere now stand at around
430ppm CO2-e, compared with only
280ppm before the Industrial
Revolution

10.  Our industrial life-style has added
2,300 Bts over 200 years each year at
increasing rates
 Output in 2050 will be around 87 Bts
 The total CO2-e in the atmosphere will
then have accumulated to 5,300± Bts,
which is over twice today's amount

12.  A child born in a wealthy country is
likely to consume, waste, and
pollute more in her/his lifetime than
50 children born in poorer nations

13. Rising Sea Levels
 Sea levels are predicted to rise more than 5
metres as temperatures get over 2 C,
principally from melting ice from Greenland
and the Antarctic—Greenland could be
losing more than 80 cubic miles of ice per
year
 A 1 mm rise in sea level causes a shoreline
retreat of about 1.5 meters
 In the past 50 years, sea level has been rising
1.8mm a year - which is ten times the average
for the past 3,000 years—in the last decade
this has increased to 3.1mm

14. Temperature & Sea Level

15. The Impact
 A one-meter rise in sea level would
inundate half of Bangladesh's rice land,
and would seriously flood Viet Nam,
China, India and Thailand, the
Philippines, Indonesia and Egypt…
 And inundate parts of hundreds of
cities, including some of the world’s
largest such as London, Alexandria,
Bangkok, and Shanghai

16.  As CO2 is taken up by the oceans, the pH
level is reduced, which causes the water to
become more acid—in the past the amount
being absorbed and the amount being
emitted were in balance
 Today changes in sea water affect the yield of
fish, marine bird populations
 Yet a billion people around the world depend
on fish for their main source of protein

17. Regional Footprints

18. National Footprints
 A nation's consumption is calculated by
adding imports to and subtracting
exports from national production
 Today most countries are running
ecological deficits
 In 2003, humanity's Footprint exceeded
the Earth's biological capacity by over
25 percent

19. United States

20. U.S. Footprint
By Component
Biocapacity varies each year with ecosystem
management, agricultural practices (such as
fertilizer use and irrigation), ecosystem degradation

21. Cuba
 Cuba suffered
from the
disintegration
of the USSR in
1989
 Cuba adapted
to live more in
line with its own
natural capacity

22. Cuban Footprint
by Component

23. Mexico
 Mexico has moved from using only 1/3 of
its domestic biocapacity in 1961 to
nearly 1 ½ times its own biocapacity in
2002

24. Mexican Footprint
by Component

25. How Much Nature Does
Your Lifestyle Demand?
 http://ecofoot.org/ -- Take the Quiz!
1. How often do you eat animal based
products? (once or twice a week)
2. How much of the food that you eat is
processed, packaged and not locally
grown? (3/4)
3. Compared to people in your
neighborhood, how much waste do
you generate? (about the same)

26. 4. How many people live in your
household? (2)
5. What is the size of your home?
(1500-1900 sq. ft.)
6. Which housing type best describes
your home? (Free standing with
running water)
7. Do you have electricity in your
home? (yes)
8. On average, how far do you travel on
public transportation each week? (0)

27. 9. On average, how far do you go by
motorbike each week? (0)
10. On average, how far do you go by car
each week? (10-100 miles)
11. Do you bicycle, walk, or use animal
power to get around? (seldom)
12. Approximately how many hours do you
spend flying each year? (10 hours)
13. How many miles per gallon does your car
get? (25-35 mpg)
14. How often do you drive in a car with
someone else, rather than alone?
(almost never)

28. The Results
CATEGORY
ACRES
Food
4.7
Mobility
1.0
Shelter
10.4
Goods/Services
10.4
Total Footprint
26.0

29. What Does it Mean?
 IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE
ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR
COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON
WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5
BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES
PER PERSON
 IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU,
WE WOULD NEED 5.9 PLANETS

30.  If everyone in the world
lived as we do in the
United States, we would
need over 7½ planets to
live sustainably