5.10 and 5.11 Slides

5.11
Ecological
Footprint

Ecological Footprint

Measure of how much a person/group
consumes, expressed in area of land

Factors (Land required for):

●food production

●Raw materials (wood, metal, plastic)

●Housing

●Electricity production

○Coal, Natural gas,
solar, wind, etc.

●Disposing waste produced
(landfill space)

Ecological Footprint vs. Carbon Footprint

Ecological Footprint: Measured in land
(gha - global hectare) which is a biologically
productive hectare (2.47 acres)

Carbon Footprint: Measured in tonnes of CO2 produced per year

-All CO2 released from an individual or
groups consumption & activities

●Material goods

●Food production

●Energy use (gasoline, heat, electricity)

Factors That Affect Footprint

Increase Footprint

●Affluence (wealth) increases carbon & ecological footprint

○Larger houses

○More travel (gas)

○More resources needed for material goods (cars, etc.)

●Meat consumption - more land,
more water, more energy

●Fossil fuel usage (heating,
electricity, travel, plastic)

Decrease Footprint

●Renewable energy use (wind,
solar, hydroelectric)

●Public transportation (less gas)

●Plant-based diet

●Less consumption, less travel,
less energy use

If The Whole World Lived Like Us

Ecological footprint can also be expressed in “number of
earths” required if the entire world consumed same level
of resources as a given individual or group

●Current average US footprint is 5.1 earths

○5.1 earth’s worth of resources needed if the entire
world consumed resources of avg. American

●Current global footprint is 1.85 earths

○Meaning each year humanity
consumes 1.85 x what the Earth
can produce in a year

Practice FRQ 5.11

Describe one factor that
accounts for the difference in
carbon footprint between the
United States and Uganda.
Explain one environmental
consequence of this factor.

5.12

Sustainability

Consuming a resource or using a space in a way that does not deplete or degrade it for future generations

Sustainability

Ex: using compost (renewable) over synthetic
fertilizer (fossil fuel dependent)

Maximum Sustainable Yield

The maximum amount of a renewable resource that can be
harvested without reducing or depleting the resource for
future use

Roughly ½ carrying capacity. Maximizes yield (resource
harvest) and regeneration rate of population

Factors that help us determine the health of the environment and guide us towards sustainable use of earth’s resources

Biodiversity

Env. Indicators of

Sustainability

●

Genetic, species, and ecosystem

●

Higher biodiv. = healthier ecosystems

●Declining biodiv. can indicate pollution, habitat
destruction, climate change

●Global extinction rate = strong env. indicator since species extinction
decreases species richness of earth

Food Production

●Indicates ability of earth’s soil, water, and climate to support ag.

●Major threats to food prod. = Climate change, soil
degradation (desertification, topsoil erosion),
groundwater depletion

●Increasing meat consumption =
further strain on food prod. (takes
away water and land from grain
production)

●Global grain production per capita has leveled off & sown signs of decline recently

Atmospheric Temp. & CO2

●Life on earth depends on very narrow
temperature range

●CO2 is a GHG (traps infrared radiation & warms
earth’s atm.)

○Increased CO2 = increased temp.

●

Deforestation (loss of CO2
sequestration) & combustion of FF
(emission of CO2) increase atm. CO2

●Increasing CO2 = unsustainable (Dries out
arable (farmable) land, destroys habitats,
worsens storm intensity)

Human Pop. & Resource

Depletion

●As human pop. grows, resource depletion grows

●Resources are harvested unsustainably from natural ecosystems & degrade ecosystem health

●More paper (lumber) = deforestation

●More food = soil erosion, deforestation, groundwater depletion

●More travel = FF mining = air, water, soil pollution, habitat
destruction

Practice FRQ 5.12

Explain which student most likely lives in
a highly developed country. Describe how
one of the four categories of ecological
footprint can serve as an environmental
indicator.