Ecological Footprint
Ecological Footprint
Introduction
Ecological footprint denotes the human carrying capacity of an ecosystem. It is the fundamental foundation for demographic accounting (Raj, Sharma, Singh, & Goel, 2012). It is used in ecological economics to take stock of the remaining natural resources, in relation to the load of the human economy. The calculation of ecological footprint of a nation takes into account the ecologically productive land, and population. Ecological foot print measures the capacity of the biosphere to meet human demand for material consumption and waste disposal i.e. the biological capacity. The demand placed on the biosphere human activities with the prevailing resource management and technology, in a given year, is the ecological footprint. The supply created by the biosphere is the biological capacity.
The National Ecological Footprint
The ecological footprint provides an approximate biological capacity, expressed in terms of the global average bio- productive hectares, across five distinct land uses. The calculation corrects the formula for the absorptive capacity for carbon emissions i.e. the indirect demand for bio- capacity. The calculation covers six areas of land use including cropland, forests, fishing ground, grazing land, built-up land, and up-take land to accommodate the carbon footprint. In relation to each land use, the demand for ecological products and services divided by their respective to give ecological footprint for each type of land use.Human life depends on the ecosystem products and services defined by resources, waste absorptive capacity, and space for urban infrastructure. Changes in the environment such as collapsing fisheries, deforestation, and accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere indicate that the demand for resources may have exceeded the regenerative and absorptive capacity of the biosphere. Careful management of the interactions between humans and the environment are pivotal in ensuring future prosperity. Reliable metrics that assess ecological demand, supply, and history trends, and track the regenerative and absorptive capacity of the biosphere are essential, and ecological footprint is one such measure. Such methods provide a basis for setting goals, identifying solutions, and tracking progress against set objectives. National footprint is a measure that is consistent across countries over time.
Relative contribution of Countries
A country’s environmental impact partly mirrors the ecological footprint. In relation to the contribution of countries to the global footprint, the developed countries have a higher contribution than the developing countries. High urbanization and industrialization lead to a high carbon dioxide release and loss of natural forest resources. The carbon dioxide loss stems from changes in land use, burning of fossil fuels, pollution, and habitat loss. In general terms, developing countries have a higher biosphere gap than the developing countries. However, countries differ in their contribution to the global footprint because of other reasons. For example, China has the highest marine capture while Bahrain, Malta, and Singapore have high relative fertilizer use and carbon dioxide emissions. Indonesia and Honduras have the highest rates of deforestation. New Zealand has the highest number of threatened species.
Ecological footprint score of a University in an Indian City
In a cross-sectional study, 100 students (17-19years) of Punjab University responded to an ecological questionnaire answering questions in four areas: food, shelter, mobility, goods, and services (Raj, Sharma, Singh, & Goel, 2012). The findings indicated that the average ecological footprint for the university students was 5.58 global hectares. This is high because the average Indian footprint is 0.91 global hectares. India’s ecological footprint is 0.9 global hectares. It is lower than the global footprint, which is 2.7 hectares. However, the university’s average is high. Therefore, the students should embrace clean energy transport systems, install energy-saving features in homes, adopt energy-saving habits, adopt water saving techniques, and use environmental friendly materials for building. In relation to the housing footprint, the students should use recycled products, buy less, and recycle products. In terms of food footprint, the students should eat organic foods; choose products with less packaging, and plant gardens.
My Footprint in Global Hectares
My footprint in global hectares 64.53 (carbon footprint is 13.05, Food footprint is 26.61, Housing footprint is 9.15 while the goods and services footprint is 15.72). If everybody lived my lifestyle, we would need 4.11 Earths. In relation to my footprint, adjustments include using organic foods, using energy-efficient mode of transport, and using home appliances that use less energy.
Conclusion
The greatest challenges to reduction of the global footprint are global warming, large scale deforestation, desertification, and disruption of geochemical cycles. The approximate calculation of the ecological footprint and the carrying capacity provide useful informative indicators of sustainability. In the current state of the environment and resources use, several countries fall short of attaining the natural resource sustainability goals. Ecological footprint raises a signal of caution, provides a variety of guidelines, and suggests the direction of reforms by providing potential solutions. It directs the world in the direction it wants to go, in terms of sustainability of resources. However, most countries seem reluctant to implement the global agenda of sustainable development.
Reference
Raj, S., Sharma, M. Singh, A., & Goel, S. (2012). “Ecological footprint score in university students”. Journal of Environmental and Occupational Science, 1(2): 63-131.
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