News http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081207/sc_afp/chileclimat ewarming_081207221551 http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp? DocumentID=553&ArticleID=6016&l=en http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/12/whats-old-isne.html?npu=1&mbid=yhp http://multimedia.boston.com/pub/tn/11/local_news.htm?b ctid=1488623605 http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2008/12 /caution_whale_crossing_slow_to_1.html http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2008/12/05/ climate_change_drought_to_strain_colorado_river/ http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2008/12/08/ termites_show_complexity_of_biofuel_work/ Ecological Footprint It compares human consumption of natural resources with planet Earth's ecological capacity to regenerate them. It is an estimate of the amount of biologically productive land and sea area needed to regenerate (if possible) the resources a human population consumes and to absorb and render harmless the corresponding waste, given prevailing technology and current understanding. Using this assessment, it is possible to estimate how many planet Earths it would take to support humanity if everybody lived a given lifestyle. Image courtesy of Wikimedia A hectare is the size of a soccer field A global hectare accounts for average global productivity Geographical Distribution Images removed due to copyright restrictions. Global Demand Images removed due to copyright restrictions. Footprint by Component Image courtesy of World Wide Fund for Nature Japan under Creative Commons 3.0 Your Ecological Footprint http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/ index.php/GFN/page/calculators/ Gender A) Male B) Female How often do you eat animal based products? (beef, pork, chicken, fish, eggs, dairy products) A) Never(vegan) or Infrequently (no meat, and eggs/dairy a few times a week) (strict vegetarian) B) Infrequently (vegetarian) C) Occasionally (no meat or occasional meat, but eggs/dairy almost daily) D) Often (meat once or twice a week) E) Very often (meat daily) How much of the food that you eat is processed, packaged and not locally grown (from more than 200 miles away)? A) Most of the food I eat is processed, packaged, and from far away B) Three quarters C) Half D) One quarter E) Very little. Most of the food I eat is unprocessed, unpackaged and locally grown. Compared to a typical American, how much trash do you generate? A) Much less B) Somewhat less C) About the same D) Much more Which housing type best describes your home? A) Free standing house without running water B) Free standing house with running water C) Multi-story apartment building D) Row house or building with 2-4 housing units E) Green-design residence Do you have Electricity in your home? A) Yes B) No How many people live in your household? A) 1 person B) 2 people C) 3 people D) 4-5 people E) 6 or more people What is the size of your home? A) 2700 square feet or larger B) 2200-2700 square feet C) 1600-2200 square feet D) 1050 -1600 square feet E) 550-1050 square feet On average, how far do you go by car each week (as a driver or passenger)? A) 300 miles or more B) 200-300 miles C) 150-200 miles D) 50-150 miles E) 0-50 miles How far do you travel by motorbike each week? A) 0-2 miles B) 2-10 miles C) 10-30 miles D) 30-70 miles E) more than 70 miles How many miles per gallon does your car get? (If you do not own a car, estimate the average fuel efficiency of the cars you ride in.) A) More than 40 miles per gallon B) 30-40 miles per gallon C) 15-30 miles per gallon D) 5-15 miles per gallon E) Fewer than 5 miles per gallon What is the gas mileage of your motorbike? A) 15-30 B) 30-40 C) 40-50 D) 50-60 E) more than 60 mpg How often do you drive in a car with someone else, rather than alone? A) Almost never B) Occasionally (about 25%) C) Often (about 50%) D) Very often (about 75%) E) Almost always On average, how far do you travel on public transportation each week (bus, train, subway or ferry) ? A) 50 miles or more B) 25-50 miles C) 5-25 miles D) 1-5 miles E) 0 miles Approximately how many hours do you spend flying each year? A) more than 100 hours B) 25-100 hours C) 10-25 hours D) 4-10 hours E) 0-4 hours