The units for ecological footprint are global hectares gha , which measure the amount of biologically productive land with a productivity equal to the world average. This land area is measured in terms of hectares, which each represent 10, square meters or 2. For some perspective, some ecological footprints of several countries are listed below. Note that ecological footprints can be counterbalanced by biocapacity , which refers to the ability of a biologically productive area to continuously generate renewable resources and clean up its wastes.
However, a carbon footprint measures the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an individual, organization, or activity. A carbon footprint is measured in units of carbon dioxide equivalents, which quantifies how much a certain amount of a greenhouse gas would impact global warming in reference to carbon dioxide.
The carbon footprint thus concentrates on activities that would be related to greenhouse gas emissions, rather than considering an entire lifestyle as might be the case for calculating an ecological footprint.
A carbon footprint would be used, for example, to determine the impact that burning fossil fuels or consuming electricity would have on the environment. The ecological footprint considers many variables, and the calculations can become complicated.
To calculate the ecological footprint of a nation, you would use the equation found in this research paper by Tiezzi et al. This equation compares the amount of goods consumed in a nation relative to how many of those goods were produced in the world, on average. Equivalence factors, which differ depending on land use and year, help convert a specific land area into the appropriate number of global hectares. Yield factors take into account how different types of land can have smaller or larger impact on an ecological footprint calculation that factors in many types of products.
The ecological footprint factors in the influence from many sources, but the calculation is very similar for each individual product. After finding out the ecological footprint for every product, you would add all your answers to figure out the overall ecological footprint. Let's say you are growing carrots and corn on your farm and you want to figure out your farm's ecological footprint based solely on your crop production.
First, let's calculate the ecological footprint of your corn:. Now, let's do the same for your carrots:. Therefore, the ecological footprint of growing your crops is:.
This means that in order to grow your crops, you would need 1. You can add in more terms to take into consideration other factors, like how much electricity you might need to run your farm. To see if your farm is sustainable, you should check whether the ecological footprint you calculated is less than the biocapacity of the land you are growing your crops on.
If so, your farm is producing crops at a rate that the land can handle. Note that the calculator is intended for people living in Switzerland , but it gives you an idea of the ecological impact of your consumption habits.
Reducing the global ecological footprint is therefore everyone's concern, which is why each of us must act at our own level by adopting a more sustainable lifestyle. You can also calculate your ecological footprint with the Global Footprint Network. A significant part of the ecological footprint is due to greenhouse gas emissions from human activity. In fact, the ecological footprint of individuals predominantly depends on their lifestyle. In order to limit greenhouse gas emissions and so reduce one's ecological footprint, it is imperative to change people's lifestyles by adopting some simple habits :.
Not all countries exert the same pressure on the Earth and the ecological footprint of a country is calculated from the ecological footprint of its inhabitants. According to the Global Footprint Network, in the global ecological footprint was 2. This means that 1. Source: Global Footprint Network. The UK's ecological footprint was 4. It would therefore take:.
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Manage Cookies We use cookies on this site to enhance your user experience More info. Global Footprint Network, which calculates the Ecological Footprint for more than countries , gets the data from these international offices and applies them to its comprehensive accounting database to calculate how many resources each country consumes. Learn more about the Ecological Footprint.
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