Showing posts with label carrying capacity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carrying capacity. Show all posts
What is Your Ecological Footprint?
Ecological footprints are an accounting system for biocapacity that tracks how much biocapacity there is, and how much biocapacity people use. Ecological footprints measure of land and water use as well as the wastes generated. Another even simpler definition would be the amount of the environment necessary to produce the goods and services necessary to support our lifestyle.
Calculation methods have converged due to standards released in 2006 and updated in 2009. Assessing the global ecological footprint enables us to estimate how much of the Earth (or how many planet Earths) it takes to support humanity.
For 2007, humanity's total ecological footprint was estimated at 1.5 planet Earths; that is, humanity uses ecological services 1.5 times as quickly as Earth can renew them. Every year, this number is recalculated to incorporate the three-year lag due to the time it takes for the UN to collect and publish statistics and relevant research. At present we are estimated to be using around twice the earth's carrying capacity each year.
Everyone of us has an ecological footprint, so does every business, every city and every nation. To find out more, go to The Global Footprint Network, Earthday.net, and Redefining Progress. All of these sites offer a number of useful resources.
Interested in knowing whether your country is an ecological creditor or debtor? Click here or here to see how your nation ranks in terms of its ecological footprint.
© 2013, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
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Earth Overshoot Day 2013
Earth Overshoot Day is an approximate date when our resource consumption for a given year exceeds the planet’s ability to replenish.The measure helps us to acknowledge the gap between our demand for ecological resources and services, and how much the planet can provide.
We are already exceeding the earth's annual carrying capacity and we are only a couple of months past the halfway point of the year. For the remaining four and half months of this year we will be operating on an ecological deficit. This has troubling implications for climate change and resource depletion.
As far as climate change is concerned, carbon dioxide is being emitted faster than it can be absorbed by forests and oceans. In addition we are seeing shrinking forests, species loss, fisheries collapse, higher commodity prices and civil unrest.
As a global civilization we began to exceed the Earth's annual carrying capacity in the mid-1970s. Annual demands are now equivalent to that of more than 1.5 Earths. The general trend shows that overshoot day has been coming sooner. In 1993, Earth Overshoot Day fell on October 21 and in 2003, the day fell on September 22. Before 2050 it is expected that our demands will be twice what the earth can provide.
This measure comes to us the Global Footprint Network and UK think tank new economics foundation. For more information and a review of the methodology employed click here.
© 2013, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
Related Articles
What is Your Ecological Footprint?
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Thanksgiving Shopping: Consumption and the Earth's Carrying Capacity
The Financial Costs of Biodiversity
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World Population Day and Curbing Co2 Emissions on a Per Capita Basis
Growing population is undeniably a serious environmental issue. The earth has a finite carrying capacity which we are already exceeding. The more people there are on this earth the greater the demands we make on the planet's limited resources.
There are currently 7 billion people on the planet and this is expected to grow to 9 billion people by 2050. The growing population will put even more strain on our finite resources. More people means more demand for water, food, and energy as well as associated increases in waste and emissions.
Even if we use conservative per capita Co2 emissions estimates of 3 tonnes per person per year, we see that 2 billion more people will generate at least 6 billion tonnes of additional annual Co2 emissions.
Much of the increase in emissions can be offset through the expanded use of renewables. Renewable energy generates a tiny fraction of the emissions associated with burning fossil fuels for energy.
When we look at per capita emissions it is important to acknowledge the massive gulf that separates the developed and developing world. For example, China, is the world leader in total emissions (6018m metric tonnes of Co2) since it overtook the US (5903m metric tonnes of Co2) in 2007. But as assessed on a per capita basis the US generates more than four times China's Co2 emissions on an annual per capita basis (the average American is responsible for 19.8 tonnes per person, while the average Chinese citizen generates 4.6 tonnes).
The discrepancy between developed and developing countries is far worse in other places. The annual per capita Co2 emissions are 16.5 times higher in the US than in India which generates 1.2 tonnes per capita. Even though India's per capita emissions are on the rise, by 2040 the country is expected to have a Co2 emissions profile below 3 tonnes per person.
As the leading continent for population growth Africa is often unfairly singled out. To illustrate this point, the annual US per capita Co2 emission are 66 times higher than in the African country of Kenya which generates 0.3 tonnes per capita.
We are seeing very promising signs of sustainable development in Africa. The tremendous growth of renewable energy in Africa will enable the continent to keep its per capita emissions relatively low. For example, a report from the African Development Bank (AfDB) said that wind power is expected to increase by a factor of 10 over the next few years.
The prodigious growth of renewable energy in Africa and other developing nations is promising. It is clear that we will not be able to reduce global emissions if the developing world follows the same fossil fuel driven path that the developed world has taken.
Renewable energy can enable developing nations to leap frog past fossil fuels that same way they have established wireless communications without going through a stage of hard wired phones and the same way they are adopting electric vehicles without the heavy reliance on fossil fuel powered cars.
While we expect to see a reduction in annual per capita Co2 emissions in the developing world, they are still expected to be significantly higher than in developing nations. It should be obvious that if we are to curb global emission the developed world must significantly reduce their per capita emissions beyond current forecasts. Further, the developed world must assist the developing world with technology transfer and financial support to help them avoid our environmentally ruinous developmental path.
World population is a serious problem, but as we continue to seek an elusive deal on global emissions reductions, we must factor per capita emissions.
For more information on per capita Co2 emissions click here.
© 2013, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.
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