Human development has many impacts on planet earth. The major impacts are on land, water and air. The impact on land can broadly be classified as ecological footprint, that on air as carbon footprint and finally the impact on water is the water footprint. These three resources are vital to the sustenance of life in general, of the different flora and fauna, especially human life on planet earth.
This classification is beneficial as every action or event in planet earth has an impact on either of these three ecosystems, land, air and water. If one is aware of this, his / her actions will turn out to be more responsible and beneficial to the planet earth in the long run.
Air Based : A carbon footprint is historically defined as the total emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent.- Wikipedia. I am shocked the damage the industrialised countries of the world are doing on the economy. The example I usually quote is that of the CO2 equivalent gases released by our people who travel in their own automobiles, instead of the public or pooled transportation. Almost ten years back, I did a study on the employees of Infosys. There is a trend among Infosys employees to be careless about the impact of their actions on the air.
Water Based : Water Footprint :
Country rank for Carbon footprints, 2015 data
Rank Country Total tons CO2 Per capita, T CO2
(00,000 T)This classification is beneficial as every action or event in planet earth has an impact on either of these three ecosystems, land, air and water. If one is aware of this, his / her actions will turn out to be more responsible and beneficial to the planet earth in the long run.
Air Based : A carbon footprint is historically defined as the total emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent.- Wikipedia. I am shocked the damage the industrialised countries of the world are doing on the economy. The example I usually quote is that of the CO2 equivalent gases released by our people who travel in their own automobiles, instead of the public or pooled transportation. Almost ten years back, I did a study on the employees of Infosys. There is a trend among Infosys employees to be careless about the impact of their actions on the air.
Water Based : Water Footprint :
Blue water footprint :
Volume of surface and groundwater consumed as a result of the production of a good or service. Consumption refers to the volume of freshwater used and then evaporated or incorporated into a product.
Green water footprint :
Volume of rainwater consumed during the production process. This is particularly relevant for agricultural and forestry products (products based on crops or wood), where it refers to the total rainwater evapotranspiration (from fields and plantations) plus the water incorporated into the harvested crop or wood.
Land Based : Ecological Footprint. The simplest way to define ecological footprint would be to call it the impact of human activities measured in terms of the area of biologically productive land and water required to produce the goods consumed and to assimilate the wastes generated.- courtesy WWF.Grey water footprint : It is defined as the volume of freshwater that is required to assimilate the load of pollutants based on natural background concentrations and existing ambient water quality standards. It is calculated as the volume of water that is required to dilute pollutants to such an extent that the quality of the water remains above agreed water quality standards. www.waterfootprint.org
Country rank for Carbon footprints, 2015 data
Rank Country Total tons CO2 Per capita, T CO2
www.ucsusa.org
Water Footprint (country rank, UNESCO data 2011)
Ecological Footprints : Countries With The Highest Ecological Footprints
courtesy www.worldatlas.com
Water Footprint (country rank, UNESCO data 2011)
1. China: 1.5 billion people, 362 trillion gallons annually
2. United States: 300 million people, 216 trillion gallons
3. Brazil: 175 million people, 95 trillion gallons
4. Russia: 143 million people, 71 trillion gallons
5. Mexico: 100 million people, 53 trillion gallons
6. India: 1.1 billion people, 30 trillion gallons
7. England: 60 million people, 20 trillion gallons
8. France: 60 million people, 20 trillion gallons
9. Canada: 33 million people, 19 trillion gallons
10. Australia: 20 million people, 12 trillion gallons , National Water Footprint Accounts 2011.
In the US it takes 12.2 acres to supply the average person's basic needs, in the Netherlands it takes 8 acres and in India it takes 1 acre. What this means is if every person onn planet earth were to live like an average splurging, careless and selfish American, we would need five planet earths to sustain such a lifestyle. Holland already needs a country 10 times its size to support it's lifestyle. India would need just 35% extra land than India has to support their lifestyle.2. United States: 300 million people, 216 trillion gallons
3. Brazil: 175 million people, 95 trillion gallons
4. Russia: 143 million people, 71 trillion gallons
5. Mexico: 100 million people, 53 trillion gallons
6. India: 1.1 billion people, 30 trillion gallons
7. England: 60 million people, 20 trillion gallons
8. France: 60 million people, 20 trillion gallons
9. Canada: 33 million people, 19 trillion gallons
10. Australia: 20 million people, 12 trillion gallons , National Water Footprint Accounts 2011.
Ecological Footprints : Countries With The Highest Ecological Footprints
Threat of Urbanaization -
By 2025, two out of every three people on planet earth will be living in a city.
By 2025, there will be 30 megacities exceeding population of 8 million and 500 cities with populations exceeding 1 million.
Click here for TED talk Sustainability Forward ..
NG video on climate change (click here for NG video )
Click here for a youtube video from Pennstate Univ on Sustainability ..
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