Ecological Footprint & Environmental Sustainability CGC1D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfGMYdalClU

What is “ecological footprint”?

Ecological Footprint measure of human impact on the Earth. The footprint equals the Earth’s cost to sustain one person. It’s measured in global hectares represents the land area needed to provide resources and absorb waste + greenhouse gases produced by an individual http://vimeo.com/2373946

What does a hectare (ha) look like? LARGER than a Football field (International size: 0.62 ha to 0.82 ha)

How many hectares are available per person on earth? In 2010, the Earth’s total biocapacity was 12.0 billion global hectares, or 1.7 gha per person But our Ecological Footprint was 18.1 billion gha, or 2.6 gha per person.

Carbon has been the dominant component of humanity’s Ecological Footprint for more than half a century. In 1961, carbon was 36 per cent of our total Footprint but by 2010 it comprised 53 per cent.

What are the numbers? World Average – 2.2 hectares Biggest Footprint – Qatar– 11.6 hectares Smallest Footprint – East Timor – 0.45 hectares Average Canadian Footprint – 6.4 hectares Canada has one of the largest footprints in the world! Why is Canada’s average footprint so big? As of 2014, Canada has the 8th highest ecological footprint per capita of the 130 countries included, behind Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Denmark, United States of America, Belgium, and Australia

What do we “need”? We require ….. 0.2 hectares of land for water (to drink & provide seafood) hectares of land for home and roads and factories that make the material things we grave 1.6 hectares of land for farmland to grow the food we eat 0.3 hectares of land for grazing land for meat and dairy 1.4 hectares of land for timber wood and paper products 4.7 hectares of land and needed to absorb the greenhouse gases produced by driving around town, through the running of air conditioners and the import of exotic goods and foods = 8.6 hectares

Per Capita vs National #s Ranking countries by total and per capita Ecological Footprint produces very different results. The Ecological Footprint of the top five countries makes up about half the global total. Analysis of the 2014 National Footprint Accounts reveals that just two countries generated 31 percent of the world’s total carbon Footprint: China (16 percent) and the USA (15 percent).

Human Impact on Earth: The ecological footprint http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRZmGHkqQbU What’s the main message in this video?

Ecological Overshoot: Earth is exceeding it’s carrying capacity Turning resources into waste faster than waste can be turned back into resources puts us in global ecological overshoot, depleting the very resources on which human life and biodiversity depend.

How Much Land do we Have?

Environmental Sustainability: the ability to develop in order to meet the needs of the present without negatively affecting the ability of future generations to meet their needs

Sustainability If we are not all following our role as stewards in the global village, then we will not have a sustainable environment for our future children. “We do not inherit the earth from our grandparents, we borrow it from our children.” We must all do our part to keep our consumption of resources to a minimum, and to keep the environment around us clean. Are you doing your part?

You’re going to take an ecological footprint quiz to find out! http://www.earthday.org/footprint-calculator Green Ninja: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeYOZgbgG1Q

Group Brainstorm Green Ninja: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeYOZgbgG1Q