The document discusses several global issues including population growth, consumption of natural resources, globalization, and climate change. It notes that the world population has grown exponentially from 1950 to the present and is projected to continue growing significantly. Resource consumption already exceeds what the planet can replenish annually. The ecological footprint of mankind has increased substantially as consumption, especially by the middle class, continues rising globally. Climate change poses major threats through impacts like rising sea levels, changes in rainfall, and more frequent extreme weather. Urgent action is needed to address these pressing global challenges.

1. THE GLOBAL WORLD AND US
SIRJE AHER, GEORG AHER
12 JUNE 2014

2. Global problems which influence decisions
 Explosive population increase
 Growing consumption of natural resources,
nature services and genetic variety.
 Globalization
 Climate change

3. GLOBAL POPULATION 1950 -2050
http://www.worldometers.info/world-population
http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/#
http://www.census.gov/population/internatio
nal/data/worldpop/tool_population.php
http://www.census.gov/population/international/data/worldpop/graph_population.php
pastfuture

4. 10th of June 2014 at 8.00am
10th of June 2014 at 9.00am

5. People live longer
• 99,9% of the period humans have been around, life
expectancy hasn’t exceeded 30 years.
• Archeologists have never found remains of a person who
is older than 50 years.
• (Nature408 (2000) pp. 267-269)

6. Population increase prognosis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World_population_(UN).svg

7. Ecological footprint
The ecological footprint measures land area
used by a product or service during its lifetime
(hectares per year)
In 2012 mankind consumed 1.5 times the natural
resources on the planet, which means that Earth
will take 18 months to replenish the resources used
and to eliminate the waste.
http://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96koloogiline_jalaj%C3%A4lg
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/footprint_science_introduction/

8. http://www.google.ee/imgres?q=earth+overshoot+day+2012&hl=et&sa=X&rlz=1T4ADRA_enEE457EE458&biw=1366&bih=589&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tb
nid=4hEEvPdriF-YmM:&imgrefurl=http://www.bioregional.com/blog/earth-overshoot-day-
2012/&docid=fj0G0090g_21ZM&imgurl=http://www.bioregional.com/files/media/image/graphics/footprints%252520fb.jpg&w=555&h=363&ei=Q6JwUMPHN
bLI0AWf8oDwDw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=189&vpy=145&dur=6366&hovh=181&hovw=278&tx=161&ty=79&sig=117945889208142994641&page=1&tbnh=
117&tbnw=157&start=0&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:70

9. COUNTRIES RANKED ACCORDING TO
THEIR ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT
Allikas : http://www.wwf.or.jp/activities/lib/lpr/WWF_EFJ_2009e.pdf

10. MIDDLE CLASS CONSUMPTION BY REGIONS
Other countries
EUROPE
USA
JAPAN
THE REST
OF ASIA
INDIA
CHINA
http://yle.fi/uutiset/maailmaa_uhkaa_ankara_pula__kaikesta/7018115
SOURCE:OECD

11. Biodiversity
̶ Biodiversity is like a web
with different levels of
relations.
̶ All organisms on Earth are
connected, and each
organism plays a role in the
web.
Georg Aheri foto

12. Photo by Georg Aher
Decisions and conclusions are often based on individual
and irrelevant facts…

13. Why do we need diversity?
Biological diversity guarantees that we have food and
medicine
• ca 80 000 plants that grow in the wild are potential
food sources.
•People make use of around ca 40 000 species of
animals, plants and mushrooms every day.

14. The loss of biodiversity
The number of tigers in the
world has been reduced by
98% in the last 100 years.
Currently it’s believed that
there are only 3000 tigers
alive.
Reasons for their population
decease:
• Habitat destruction
• Reduction in prey
• Hunting
Foto:http://www.google.ee/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid
=QsIOqT6QiO37FM&tbnid=mL2dZ43KxThMKM
http://earthenginepartners.appspot.com/google.com/science-
2013-global-forest

15. Causes of biodiversity reduction
• Destruction of habitats
• Environmental degradation
• Landscape segmentation
• Hunting
• Lack of pollinators
• Introduction of foreign species
Changes in biodiversity during the last 50 years are greater
than they have ever been in the history of mankind.

16. Photos by Georg Aher

17. GLOBALISATION
http://www.google.ee/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=vvobKp7uwcX7-
M&tbnid=zEsMHhCfqIx5RM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.altenergyshift.com%2Fgallery%2Fimage%2F143-globalization-starbucks-vs-i

19. http://www.marshallprotocol.com/forum39/13946-2.html

20. Food in the future
Latest research indicates that in 2050 food
demand will be 70-100% greater than today.
Top 3 food challenges:
• Food production must satisfy growing demand.
• Food production must be sustainable in terms of
population growth and the environment.
• We must ensure that even the poorest do not
suffer hunger.
http://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats

21. AT THE SAME TIME…
• A third of all adults worldwide are
overweight… and the number has
QUADRUPLED since 1980 (in the
developing world).
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-
2533683/Global-obesity-explosion-Third-adults-worldwide-
overweight.html#ixzz34DTGSLy1

22. Agriculture
12% of all land mass on Earth is currently being used
for agriculture.
This can be maximally increased to 15 %.
Climate change can provide more favourable farming
conditions in the temperate zone:
• Longer growth periods.
• More heat.
Climate change can worsen conditions in dry areas
(droughts, pests)

23. Food prices
Recall the food price crisis of 2007-2008.
Until 2050 scientists predict a slow but steady rate of
growth for food prices.
In 2050 the food price increase will accelerate.
Some sources indicate that climate change will increase
food prices by 80%.
The effect of food production on climate change is
comparable to the effect all global traffic has on climate
change.

24. Produce The effect on climate
change (CO2
equivalent/kg)
Beef 15
Cheese 13
Pigmeat 5
Poultry 4
Tomato and cucumber (grown in
5
greenhouses during winter)
Rice 5
Vegetable oil 3
Eggs 2,5
Fish 1,5
Rye bread 1,3
Sugar 1,2
Dried beans 0,7
Berries, vegetables 0,2
https://ilmasto-opas.
fi/fi/ilmastonmuutos/hill
inta/-/artikkeli/ab196e68-
c632-4bef-86f3-
18b5ce91d655/ilmastomyot
ainen-ruoka.html

25. The first hamburger with meat grown entirely in the laboratory (the price was €250 000).

26. http://www.tritolonen.fi/index.p
hp?page=news&id=546

27. Food wasted
• How much food do you think people in Ukraine
discard every year (per person)?
• How do you reduce the amount of wasted food in a
household?
• How do you reduce the amount of wasted food in
schools?
• What do you think leads to food being wasted in the
world?

28. Some environmentally friendly behaviours
• One vegetarian day per week.
• Avoid plants grown in greenhouses.
• Prefer fish, seasonal berries and mushrooms.
• Do not serve more than you can eat.
•Warm your food using a microwave oven.
• Avoid sweets: soft drinks, cookies, candy, chips, etc.
• Do not throw food in regular trash: sort biowaste.

29. Trash
• http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2014/01/pictures-ghana-
e-waste-mecca-2014130104740975223.html

30. Global warming
• Between 1906 and 2005 air temperatures near the ground have
increased by 0,74 ºC (± 0,18 ºC).
• The years 2000–2009 had significantly higher temperatures,
and the 90s were warmer than the 80s.
• Scientists expect global temperatures to increase by 1,1–6,4 ºC
by 2100

31. The consequences of climate change
• The global temperature increase in the previous century is
approximately 90% manmade.
• The consequences are:
• Increased glacier melting,
• Increased water levels,
• Changes in rainfall patterns,
• More frequent environmental disasters,
• Etc.

32. DURING THE LAST 650 000 YEARS CO2LEVELS HAVE FLUCTUATED
BETWEEN 180-300 PPM. CURRENTLY IT’S 380 PPM – THE HIGHEST
IN 3 MILLION YEARS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Evidence_CO2.jpg

33. Allikas:http://2.bp.blogspot.com/
_KMFU6wbcd2Y/R1LaPDB5XQ
I/AAAAAAAAAD0/9Mp0kSHm4
9w/s1600-
R/Greenhouse_Gas_by_Sector.
png

34. Solutions
CO2 neutral economies?
• Houses with zero energy consumption.
• Alternative energy sources.
• Preferring bikes to cars.
• International strategies and agreements.
• Conservation efforts.
• Environmentally aware behaviour by everyone.
• Environmental education at each educational stage.