Ecological Footprint – Country comparisons (pages 14-17) (activity 4)

The Ecological Footprint measures humanity’s demand on the biosphere in terms of the area of biologically productive land and sea required to provide the resources we use and to absorb our waste (including CO₂) in a year. Find the information in paragraph 1 to complete the following statements.

1. In 2003 the global Ecological Footprint was ______ billion hectares, or ____ global hectares per person. However, the total supply of productive area or biocapacity was ________ billion hectares, or ______ global hectares per person.
2. In 2003 the demand for the Earth’s resources in one year exceeded the ability of the Earth to supply those resources in one year by ____ %, and it took approximately _______ months for the Earth to produce the ecological resources we used in that year.
3. Look at Figure 18, what does the red line represent?
4. What land components are included in the footprint?
5. We are able to compare the different components of the footprint because they are converted to a constant unit called a ____________________.
6. Which country's Ecological Footprint is:
   (a) the smallest
   (b) the largest
   (c) most similar to the world Ecological Footprint
   (d) similar to the world average biocapacity (red line).
7. What can you say about the make up of the Ecological Footprint of many of the countries above the red line?
8. Can you identify some countries which stand out from common trends and suggest reasons?
9. Which country's Ecological Footprint does not include any/or much
   (a) cropland
   (b) grazing land
   (c) fishing grounds
   (d) nuclear energy
   (e) energy land (land required to absorb CO2 from fossil fuels)?
   (f) built up land
10. What component in the World Ecological Footprint is the greatest?
11. Complete the following sentence: Countries with large Ecological Footprints produce large volumes of carbon dioxide and contribute more to ________________________.

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