Ecological Footprint

An ecological footprint is the amount of area - both land and water - that a population can be calculated to need to provide the level of resources required to sustain it. If a population is utilizing resources in excess of what an environment can sustain, it is running an "ecological deficit" and is unsustainable. An environment running a deficit is at risk of declining to sustainable levels (which could impact its quality of life traumatically), or is at risk of extinction if it cannot. Climate change is one indicator of a population with an unsustainable ecological footprint. Climate change from global warming is being driven by increasing carbon dioxide production and release into our environment. In 2001, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) noted the following on climate change:

In the 20th century, human population quadrupled-from 1.6 billion to 6.1 billion, and carbon dioxide emissions, which trap heat in the atmosphere, grew 12-fold-from 534 million metric tons in 1900 to 6.59 billion metric tons in 1997…Climate change will have a serious impact including increased storms, flooding and soil erosion, accelerated extinction of plants and animals, shifting agricultural zones, and a threat to public health due to increased water stress and tropical disease.

One method commonly used to calculate the impact of an individual household's carbon dioxide production on global warming is with a Carbon Calculator. A personal carbon calculation can give a household an idea of their impact on climate change. Once you know your carbon footprint, by simply taking a few simple actions every day you can reduce that impact significantly. (See the Scientific Overview in this section for details.)