ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT

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ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT
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What is an Ecological Footprint?

• If you had to provide everything you use from
  your own land how much land area would you
  need? This land would have to provide you with
  all of your food, water, energy and everything
  else that you use. The amount of land you would
  need to support your lifestyle is called your
  Ecological Footprint. The ecological footprint is
  one way of measuring the impact a person has on
  the environment.

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Is the World Big Enough for All of Our BIG feet?

• The size of a persons Ecological Footprint will
  depend on many factors. Do you grow your own
  food? Do you walk or drive? Do you use renewable
  or non-renewable energy sources? Everyone has an
  ecological footprint because we all need to use
  the earths resources to survive. But we must
  make sure we dont take more resources than the
  earth can provide.

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Different people in the same country will have
different sized ecological footprints. Different
countries also have different ecological
footprints.
Table 1 Global Ecological Footprints
Country Ecological Footprint (hectares per person) Country Ecological Footprint (hectares per person)
United States of America 9.57
Canada 8.56
France 5.74
United Kingdom 4.72
El Salvador 1.72
Ghana 1.23
Vietnam 0.76
Ethiopia 0.67
Source Ecological Footprint of Nations, 2004.
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How would factors such as population density,
electricity use, and oil consumption affect the
size of a persons ecological footprint?
Canada Ghana Vietnam Ethiopia
Country Size (km2) 9,985,000 239,000 330,000 1,127,000
Population (million) 32 21 83 73
Population Density (people/ km2) 3.2 87.9 251.5 64.8
Yearly Electricity Use (billion kilowatt hours) 487.3 6.2 32.0 2.0
Oil Consumption (barrels/day) 2,200,000 38,000 185,000 23,000
Highways (km) 1,408,800 46,200 93,300 33,300
GDP per capita 31,500 2,300 2,700 800
Source The World Factbook, 2005.
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Source http//www.sierraclub.ca/bc-programs-educa
tion/educators/resources/Lesson20Plans/Ecological
20Footprints20From20Around20the20World_lesson
20plan20ai-205.pdf