- Calculate your ecological footprint, and show your results: www.footprintcalculator.org
- How would you describe Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity in your own words? You’ll need to explore the footprint network website a bit to gain a clear understanding (http://www.footprintnetwork.org/). Be sure to click through the different tabs, and if you’re perceptive, you’ll find a glossary too.
- Define:
- Global Hectare
- Ecological deficit/reserve
- Overshoot (When was Earth Overshoot day in 2019?)
- Complete the following table, by exploring the data here: http://data.footprintnetwork.org/#/?
Units are global hectares (gha) Total Ecological Footprint Ecological Footprint p/capita Total Biocapacity Biocapacity p/capita Ecol. Deficit (-) or Reserve (+)
Brazil 2.8
China
Germany 1.6
India 566 million
Japan -3.9
Nigeria
Saudi Arabia
Spain
USA 2.6 billion
- What is the current world population? What is the net population growth so far this year? http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
- Complete the following table.*
Total Population (millions) Annual Percent Change Annual Net Change Median Age Share of World Population**
Brazil 212.3
China 18.41%
Russia --69,158
India
Japan 48
Nigeria
Saudi Arabia
Spain 0.09%
USA - What is the current average global population change (i.e. how many people are added annually)?
- When is the global population estimated to reach 8 billion? What about 10 billion?
- Short Answers (https://www.worldometers.info/)
a. How many barrels of oil were pumped this year so far?
b. How many years of oil are left (given current estimates)?
c. How many people do not have access to safe drinking water?
d. How many people are undernourished?
e. How much forest has been lost this year? What about today?
f. How many cell phones have been sold this year? Today?
g. How many computers were produced this year? Today?
- Based on your answers above, and on your general opinion, what strategies do you think we should prioritize to bring our ecological footprint in line with the planet’s biocapacity? Is population the big problem? Is consumption and affluence the biggest factor? Or do we just need better technologies to produce more efficiently and clean up the environment?