Meeting Ecological challenges Section 6.4

What is an ecological footprint? Describes the total area of functioning land and water ecosystems need both to provide the resources and individual/population uses and o absorb and make harmless any waste Take into account energy, food, water, shelter Allow ecologists to calculate carrying capacity Can apply to individual countries of the world’s population No universal way to calculate an ecological footprint

Comparing footprints It is easier to compare than calculate absolute footrpints The average American’s footrpint is 4 times larger than global average. Is this a good thing? The per person use of resources is almost twice that of England Over twice that of Japan Six times that of china

How can ecology guide us to a sustainable future? Ecology allows us to: Recognize a problem Research the cause Change our behavior to mitigate the effect 3 case studies Atmospheric Ozone North Atlantic fishing Climate change