Definition: the study of the impact of humans on the environment The decisions and actions of all people in the world affect our environment

Definition: the area of land and ocean required to support your consumption of food, goods, services, housing, and energy and assimilate your wastes.

There are only global hectares available per person on a renewable basis. This means we are overshooting the Earth's biological capacity by nearly 50%. To sustain present levels of consumption, we would need: Your Eco footprint is expressed in "global hectares" (gha) or "global acres" (ga). There are only global hectares available per person on a renewable basis. This means we are overshooting the Earth's biological capacity by nearly 50%. To sustain present levels of consumption, we would need:

Why is your eco footprint so high when the average for the entire human population is so low?

Have higher average incomes Slower population growth Diverse industrial economies Stronger social support systems Examples US, Canada, Japan, Western European countries

Lower average incomes Simple & agriculture-based economies Rapid population growth Examples Indonesia, Ethiopia, India,