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ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTS

ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTS An ecological footprint is

an environmental measuring tool.

It is expressed in hectares. 1 ha = 10,000 m3

In downtown Toronto there are 1,903 people per hectare!

The Toronto Zoo has 287 hectares of land.

There are 51 billion ha. on Earth...but only 11.2 billion ha. of useable land.

That’s around 1.8 hectares per person.

Does that sound like a lot or a little?

WHAT IS AN ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT? Ecological footprints

measure the load that a population (individual, community, nation, world) puts on the environment.

The ecological footprint adds up the total land area needed to produce the resources we use and dispose of the waste that we throw away.

Consider the resources and space needed just to make you breakfast today (and throw away your garbage afterwards)!

WHY USE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTS?

Ecological footprints answer three questions: How much space is

required for us to live the way we do?

If everybody lived like us, what would the world look like?

How can we take care of our needs as well as take care of the Earth?

ECOLOGICAL DEBT

Think of your ecological footprint as if it were your bank account.

You can only take out so much money before you go into debt.

How much ecological money is left in the bank?

Could we be in ecological debt?

How can we tell?!?

FOOTPRINT HANDOUT

Complete the handout as honestly as possible. This will let you know what your ecological footprint is.

HOW MUCH SPACE IS REQUIRED FOR US TO LIVE? According to the World

Wildlife Foundation, the average Canadian’s ecological footprint is 7.6 ha. per person (2009).

This is the fourth highest in the world!

More than half of this comes from our CO2 production – all the plants needed to absorb the fossil fuel we burn for energy. Most of the rest is cropland and forest.

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS

The largest 5 footprints in the world in 2010: USA (9.6 ha) UAE (9.4 ha) Finland (7.6 ha) Canada (7.6 ha) Kuwait (7.4 ha)

Why are these countries so high?

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS

The smallest 5 footprints in the world in 2010: Afghanistan Somalia Bangladesh Malawi Haiti

What do these countries have in common?

GLOBAL ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT The most worrying

figure isn’t Canada’s, though...it’s the global average of 2.23 hectares per person.

That means we’re already using 125% of the Earth’s sustainable resources...

In other words, every year, a little more of the Earth’s resources is used up or polluted and isn’t renewed.

WHAT IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE A CANADIAN? Right now we need 1.25

Earths to live like we do forever...

But Canada is rich! Most countries don’t live like we do.

If everyone on Earth lived like a Canadian, we would need around 5 Earths.

As countries like India and China industrialize, the Earth is going to run out of resources and get polluted even faster than it is today.

ONE SOLUTION…THAT FAILED

The Kyoto Protocol: a binding treaty obliging members to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The developing nations that signed were supposed to reduce their emissions to pre 1990 levels.

In December 2011, the Canadian government became the first country to pull out of the agreement.

Instead, they aim to cut 17 % of emissions (at 2005 levels) by 2020

IN RECENT NEWS…

Cap and Trade: there is a cap on how many GHGs a company can produce. High polluters can pay low polluters to take their excess quota permits of GHGs.

Ontario and Quebec Deal

DO WE HAVE TO GIVE UP OUR LIFESTYLE?