Carbon/ Ecological Footprints

Questions 1. i) What is an Ecological footprint? ii) How is it measured? expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources. 2. i) What is a carbon footprint? the amount of carbon dioxide and other carbon compounds emitted due to the consumption of fossil fuels by a particular person expressed as equivalent tons of carbon dioxide per year. the impact of a person or community on the environment,

Some Interesting Facts Earth By The 2.6 global hectares Numbers The average Ecological Footprint per person worldwide 1.7 global hectares The amount of productive land and sea area available (biocapacity) in the world per person in 2010 1.5 years The amount of time it takes the planet to regenerate humanity’s Footprint 50 percent The amount by which humanity’s Footprint exceeds the planet's regenerative capacity 1.5 Earths The number of planets we would need to regenerate humanity’s current demand on the planet 3.9 Earths The number of planets we would need if everyone lived like average Americans

More Facts 53% The percentage of humanity's Ecological Footprint which is accounted for by carbon dioxide emissions in 2010 (its carbon Footprint) 36% The percentage of humanity's Ecological Footprint which is accounted for by carbon dioxide emissions in 1961 (its carbon Footprint) 91 The number of countries with a biocapacity deficit, i.e., in which per capita Ecological Footprint exceeded per capita biocapacity (out of 152 countries included) 85% Percentage of world population living in a country running a biocapacity deficit

What is Your Carbon Footprint? Go to http://www.ecologicalfootprint.com What is your ecological footprint? What is your carbon footprint?

Can You Make it Better? Spend some time doing research on the internet. What are the top five things you can do to reduce your ecological footprint? What are the top five things the government can do to reduce the ecological footprint of its citizens?

Canada vs Vietnam Which country do you think has a greater ecological footprint? Why? Now go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_ecological_footprint Were you right?

Questions Why is it bad to have a large ecological footprint? How much do you think you can decrease your ecological footprint? What difficulties do people have to overcome to decrease their ecological footprint? Why do people in developing countries usually have lower ecological footprints than people in developed countries? Do you think that Vietnam’s ecological footprint will increase or decrease over the next 10 years? Why or why not? Write one or two paragraphs explaining what you will try to do over the next year to decrease the ecological footprint of you and your family. Be as specific as possible (i.e. when will you turn off air conditioning; how will you decrease the amount of driving you do?)