Mod 10 Laboratory 1 PDF

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Mod 10 Laboratory 1...

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Ecological Footprint The Ecological Footprint is a measure of how much of the world’s area is needed to produce resources needed by and absorb wastes produced by a country, city, or individual. Today you will be using information from the Global Footprint Network to calculate ecological footprints your Ecological Footprint and compare the United States to other countries.

PROCEDURE Part 1: Background Information 1. Log on to http://www.footprintnetwork.org/our-work/ecological-footprint/ and use the introductory information to answer the questions 1-3 on the data and observation worksheet.

PART 2. Your Ecological Footprint. 1. Go to www.footprintcalculator.org and calculate your Ecological Footprint. You will need to enter you e-mail address to use the calculator. Record the number of plants needed to support everyone in the world if everyone lived the way you did in the table below. Click See Details to get your footprint and record it in Table 1 on the data and observation worksheet. 2. Re-take the quiz changing variables one at a time to determine which life style changes would make the most difference in your ecological footprint. Record the results in Table 1 on the data and observation worksheet. 3. Answer questions 1 and 2 on the data and observation worksheet.

PART 3. Country Ecological Footprint. It is now time to compare the United States with other countries in the world. 1. Complete Table 2 on the data and observation worksheet. For the second column, divide the first column (ecological footprint in hectares per person) by the average world footprint (2.9). For the third column, divide the first column by the average land available per person (1.7 hectares). 2. Answer questions 1-3 on the data and observation worksheet.

Ecological Footprint Data, Observation, and Analysis

Name _______________

Part 1: Background Information 1. When, where, and by who was the idea of the Ecological Footprint developed. In 1990 by Mathis Wackenagel and William Reece at University of British Columbia 2. What is an ecological deficit? When the ecological footprint exceeds the regions bio capacity 3. What is world overshoot day? When is world overshoot day? August 1st - When the calculated illustrative calendar date on which humanity's resource consumption for the year exceeds Earth’s capacity to regenerate those resources that year

PART 2. Your Ecological Footprint. 1. Which change(s) reduced your footprint the most? Recycling/reducing trash, avoiding animal byproducts, becoming more energy efficient 2. Which change(s) would be the easiest for you to make? How much would these changes reduce your footprint? Recycling more, avoiding animal products, being more energy efficient. It would reduce my footprint, but in order for it to make a difference more people need to follow and put the effort in Table 1. Your personal Ecological Footprint Parameters Ecological Footprint Parameters

Planets needed to support everyone living this way 4.6

7.9

Change made: decreased eating animal products and more energy efficient

4.5

7.6

Change made: more energy efficient, not eating animal

1.9

3.3

products, reducing trash Change made: more energy efficient, not eating animal

1.6

2.8

Actual Footprint

Total Footprint (hectares)

products, reducing trash, increased the amount of people that live in my house Change made: more energy efficient, not eating animal products, reducing trash, increased the amount of people that live in my house, all food locally grown Change made: more energy efficient, not eating animal products, reducing trash, increased the amount of people that live in my house, all food locally grown, no electricity

1.5

2.6

1.4

2.3

PART 3. Country Ecological Footprint. Table 2. Ecological Footprint by Country. Country

Afghanistan Bangladesh India

Ecological footprint (hectares per person) 0.8 0.6 1.0

Proportion relative to world average footprint 0.28 0.21 0.34

Proportion relative to world area available

0.47 0.35 0.59 (1.0  1.7) Japan 4.2 1.45 2.47 Mexico 2.1 0.72 1.24 Nigeria 0.9 0.31 0.53 Thailand 2.6 0.9 1.53 United States 8.6 2.97 5.1 World Average 2.9 1.0 1.71 (2.9  2.9) (2.9  1.7) Data Source: © 2017 Global Footprint Network. National Footprint Accounts, 2017 Edition. Please contact Global Footprint Network at [email protected] for more information. 1. Why is the ecological footprint for people in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and India so low? Because their average income is significantly lower and they’re not such a big consumer society 2. Why is it so high in the United States? (Include why you think it is high even relative to other developed countries such as Japan.) Because we are a very high consumer society and not as ecologically considerate because we don’t realize that we have to be as everything comes so easy to us

3. The population of the United States is expected to grow from roughly 317 million today to about 360 million by 2030. What impact if any do you think this growth will have on the average global ecological footprint?

I think it will ultimately depend on generational changes and whether or not people will make a conscious effort to change their habits to take better care of our planet...