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On ecological footprints and the approaching Antichrist
March 6, 2007 | 2 Comments
An ecological footprint - the term coined by Canadian ecologist William Rees – refers to the ‘earthshare’ available to each human citizen of the globe. It’s measured in ‘global hectares’ (gha) per capita. It gives a rough measure of the amount of food, energy, food, water, building materials and other consumables required to sustain a population, produce a good or service, or conduct a certain activity.
In simple terms it tells you the number of Earths required to sustain a certain lifestyle or task.
According to the 2006 Living Planet report by the World Wildlife Fund and the Global Footprint Network, on a global average, every person has a footprint of 2.3 hectares. However the available productive area on the earth for each of us is only 1.9 hectares. By 2050 humanity will demand twice as much as our planet can supply. (Download the report here)
The report states , “We are in serious ecological overshoot, consuming resources faster than the Earth can replace them”. The evidence is clear:
The first, the Living Planet Index, measures biodiversity, based on trends in more than 3600 populations of 1300 vertebrate species around the world. In all, data for 695 terrestrial, 344 freshwater and 274 marine species were analyzed. Terrestrial species declined by 31 per cent, freshwater species by 28 per cent, and marine species by 27 per cent.
Humanity’s footprint has more than tripled between 1961 and 2003. This report shows that our footprint exceeded biocapacity by 25 per cent in 2003. In the previous report (based on data to 2001), this figure was 21 per cent. The carbon dioxide footprint, from the use of fossil fuels, was the fastest growing component of our global footprint, increasing more than ninefold from 1961 to 2003.
Countries of over a million people with the largest footprint, in global hectares per person, are the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America, Finland, Canada, Kuwait, Australia, Estonia, Sweden, New Zealand and Norway. China comes mid-way in world rankings, at number 69, but its growing economy and rapid development mean it has a key role in keeping the world on the path to sustainability.
In the UK, the average footprint is 5.35 per capita, in the US it is 9.70, in China it is 1.5, and in Mozambique, just 0.47.
What is your ecological footprint? Measure it here.
We’re ashamed to say that ours is even higher than the U.S. average.
Another J and B (the BBC Newsnight’s presenter Justin Rowlatt and his partner Bee) have been in the limelight, as they try to reduce their global footprints as individuals and as a family.
See their carbon footprint, Justin’s ten tips for ethical living, his news reports, and Justin and Bee’s blog.
The consumption patterns of some can annihilate the lifestyles of others far away, as today’s headlines indicate.
While there has been a worldwide increase in gross production, there has not been a commensurate increase in genuine progress. This is shown through the matrix called GPI or Genuine Progress Indicator, that subtracts the ill effects of crime, pollution and social unrest from Gross Domestic Product. It indicates the sustainability of our overall growth trajectory.
Here’s how people around the world are trying to reduce their ecological footprints.
They’re all candidates to assume the role of the Antichrist.
How do we know? Someone from the Vatican, with a hotline to God told us. Pope Benedict retreated to perform ‘spiritual exercises’ during Lent, and designated his close associate, Cardinal Giacomo Biffi to deliver his year’s Lenten meditations to the Vatican bureaucracy. Cardinal Biffi warned of the Antichrist, who is “a pacifist, ecologist and ecumenist“.
The “masses” would follow the Antichrist, “with the exception of small groups of Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants” who would fight to prevent the watering down and ultimate destruction of the faith, he said.
Thanks for the warning, Cardinal.
The Antichrist sounds like a cool dude, most likely a dudette.
If any of you are in the reckoning, we’d like to hear from you.
- J and B.
Filed Under: Ecological-Footprint, Genuine-Progress-Index, lifestyle, MUSINGS, Politics
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2 Comments
Hey! Ecological footprint is something my husband has been going on about ever since I first met him. He used to freak out that the average American child uses 25 times as many of the Earth’s resources as an Indian child. Because of his convictions, we’ve tried to live as ‘frugally’ as possible. And it can start with very simple steps: turn off the TV if you are not watching it, turn off the light as you leave the room, reduce wastage in every part of your life. Despite his best efforts, my ‘ecological footprint’ is still high.
Environment consciousness is very high in Boulder County, where we live. Recently a pilot compost program was initiated in certain neighborhoods where you were given bio-degradable plastic bags into which you placed food waste and some other allowed items like tissues. These bags are then taken to a different landfill for composting and returned to the community for subsequent use. Xeric landscapes help reduce the amount of water used in the yards. Another example is: folks on bicycles even in the middle of a major winter storm!
Thanks for the links to Ethical Man’s blog. Now if only I can bring myself to get that compost going! I promised myself I would do it last summer. Maybe this year…
manisha, thanks for bringing up the composting issue. j and i have a compost bin in our yard. will post about it one of these days. – b
[...] The Ecological Footprint is explained HERE. [...]