Ecological Footprints

Question 1

What is ecological footprint ?

Answer 1

Environmental accounting tool that identifies the extent to which human activities exceed two limits:
1. Resource consumption
2. Waste absorption

Question 2

What do ecological footprints measure ?

Answer 2

How fast we consume resources and generate east compared to how fast nature can generate new resources and absorb our wastes.

Question 3

What is bio capacity ?

Answer 3

Measures the amount of biologically productive land and sea area available to provide the ecosystem services humanity consumes

Question 4

What is the diffrrence between bio capacity and ecological footprint

Answer 4

Bio capacity is how much bio productive area is available to us ?Ecological footprint is how much bio productive area do we demand ?

Question 5

How are ecological footprint and bio capacity measured ?

Answer 5

Both are measured in gha.

Question 6

What happens when ecological footprint exceeds bio capacity

Answer 6

Ecological deficit

Question 7

What do countries with bio capacity greater than ecological footprint have in common ?

Answer 7

They either have small populations or low population densities.
Small population = less bio capacity and lower ef
Low population density = greater area of uninhabited “bio-productive land”
This is why this method can be unreliable bcos Australia is not sustainable but has high bio capacity