Sustainability warm-up quiz
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
How many livable planets are there right now for humans to
live on?
How much of the Earth is biologically productive?
With how many species does our species share this planet
with?
How big is the human population today?
1. In 1900?
2. In 2100?
How much bio-capacity is there per person on this planet?
How big are our Footprints (per person)? The Ecological
Footprint represents the biologically productive space
necessary to produce what people consume. (acres /person
for people)
What happens if there is only one cake and one of four party
guests takes three times more than average?
Ecological Footprint Accounting
Footprint
Robert Steele, Associate & Senior Trainer
The AtKisson Group
The Apple Analogy
The Apple Analogy
1.
First, slice the apple into quarters (4 equal pieces)
2.
Set aside 3 pieces. They represent the oceans of the world.
3.
Slice the remaining quarter in half and set aside one of the
pieces
4.
The 1/8 remaining represents the land area where people live,
but do not necessarily grow the food they need for life.
5.
Next, slice the 1/8 into four equal segments. Set aside three of
the segments as they represent the areas that are too rocky, too
wet, too cold, too steep or with very poor soil that can’t grow
food. It also represents the urban and suburban sprawl, roads,
shopping centers, schools, parks, factories, car parks, etc.
6.
Finally, carefully peel the remaining slice. The skin represents
al of the earth that remains to produce food.
Bioproductive Segments
Bioproductive segments
22%
67%
LowProductivity
Ocean
4%
Biologically
Productive
Ocean
18%
Biologically
Productive Land
11%
Deserts, Ice Caps
and Barren Land
Population Dynamics: how we do grow!
Constant growth
Current world population: 6.2 billion people
Annual growth rate: 1.4 % (or 1.7 % in the 1980s)
Annual growth rate
Population in 2100
in billion
1.0%
16.2
1.3%
21.8
1.4%
24.1
1.5%
26.6
1.7%
32.4
House
on planet
People vs. nature
?
Earth Shares
An Earthshare is the amount of land each person on the planet
would get if all the ecologically productive land (and some sea) on
Earth were divided evenly among the present world population.
Earthshares
Land + Sea = 1.8 hectares/person
There are approximately 12.5
billion hectares of ecologically
productive land (and some sea)
in the world and over 6.2 billion
people. Divided equally among
everyone, this means each
person is entitled to
approximately 1.8 hectares of
land.
One hectare
Calculate your
own Footprint at:
http://www.myfootprint.org/
www.my footprint.org
Footprint Instructions……
1. Record your Ecological Footprint on the flip chart
table and number of planets needed to sustain
your lifestyle
2. Now go back and play around with the calculator
and try to see about how you can reduce your
footprint.
3. Go to the Population link
What is the Eco Footprint?
Sitting on footprint
What is Ecological Footprint?
Ecological footprint is a tool for measuring and
analyzing human natural resource consumption and
waste output within the context of nature’s renewable
and regenerative capacity (or biocapacity).
IN SIMPLE TERMS:
Ecological Footprint calculates how much land (and some sea) is
necessary to sustain our life style. It translates everything you consume,
produce and throw out into a land area measurement called hectares (ha).
1 ha = 10,000 m2
Ecological Footprint is an “ecological camera” that takes a snapshot of
our current demands on nature.
What does Ecological Footprint calculate?
Categories for consumption
• Food (energy inputs)
• Housing (energy inputs
and resources)
• Transportation
• Other goods and services
(clothing recreation,
appliances, government
services, etc.)
Categories for Waste
• Sewage
• Carbon Dioxide
Island - equitable
Remember Earth Shares?
Clearly, as the population
increases, our Earthshares
shrink.
How much will each of us
have when we hit 8 or even
10 billion people?
• Currently, are Earthshares equally distributed around the
globe?
• What happens when some people have larger shares?
US Ecological Footprint
9.57 ha/person
The largest per capita
on the planet!!!
Island - inequitable
1.40
World Ecological Footprint
1961-2001
Number of Earths
1.20
1.00
0.80
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
1961
1966
1971
1976
1981
1986
1991
1996
2001
Growth in the Ecological Footprint
Growth in the Ecological Footprint
Global Footprint Accounts
(in global hectares/person, 2001 data)
Global Footprint
Ecological Demand (Ecological Footprint)
Footprint Areas for:
Demand
Growing Crops
0.49
Exceeds
Grazing Animals
0.14
Settlements & infrastructure
0.07
Producing timber & fuelwood 0.24
Absorbing excess CO2
1.12
Harvesting Fish
0.13
Total Global Demand
2.2
Ecological Supply (Biocapacity)
Biocapacity Areas:
Crop land
0.53
Supply
Grazing land
0.27
By
Built-up area
0.07
Forest
0.81
Fishing Grounds
0.14
20%
>
Total Global Supply
1.8
Moving to cities . . .
Three billion people already live in cities. Cities, directly and
indirectly, are responsible for the bulk of the planet’s
consumption. They account for 80 % of the world’s use of fossil
fuels. By 2030, over 60% of the world’s population will live in
cities.
Living Large . . .
How big would the glass hemisphere need to be so that the city under it could
sustain itself exclusively on the ecosystem contained?
From Wackernagel and Rees, 1996, Ecological Footprint Analysis
Are we the Boiled Frog?
From Wackernagel and Rees, 1996, Our Ecological Footprint.
We have Overshot the Earths’ Carrying
Capacity
Humanity’s Ecological Footprint has overshot the limits of environmental
sustainability.
Earth’s
Sustainability
We are here
now!
Humanity’s total Ecological Footprint increased to 13.2 billion
global hectares, growing by 147 global hectares between 1999 and
2000.
Living Planet Report 2002, WWF International and Redefining Progress
Overshoot is growth beyond carrying capacity
Carrying capacity limits can be overshot without a “big bang” because of the
availability of large capital stocks. Harvests can still increase and money
incomes rise, and where there may be indications of ecological stress, all else
may seem normal. Ultimately, however, the consequences of eroded natural
capital may be felt as eco-catastrophe and population crash.
From Wackernagel and Rees, 1996, Our Ecological Footprint.
Living planet report cover
Download at www.panda.org
Sustainability warm-up quiz
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
How many livable planets are there right now for humans to
live on?
How much of the Earth is biologically productive?
With how many species does our species share this planet
with?
How big is the human population today?
1. In 1900?
2. In 2100?
How much bio-capacity is there per person on this planet?
How big are our Footprints (per person)? The Ecological
Footprint represents the biologically productive space
necessary to produce what people consume. (acres /person
for people)
What happens if there is only one cake and one of four party
guests takes three times more than average?