Your Carbon Footprint

Over an average life time each American will… Use 1.8 million gallons of water

Read 5,054 newspapers = 43 trees

Burn 31,350 gallons of gasoline

Discard 64 TONS of garbage

Humans have influenced 83% of Earth’s Surface

Question? Does this number seem like a lot or a little? Some areas are more vulnerable to human influence than others? Why might that be?

Food for thought.. 83% is just over 4/5 ‘s of the Earth’s surface Areas that are highly vulnerable are those that are easily accessible to humans. Added to that is the demand for natural resources in those areas.

Here is the world footprint..

Our footprint varies around the world… Americans make up 5 % of world’s population We own 30% of world’s cars And consume 25% of world’s energy By an American’s first birthday we consume more energy than Tanzania generates in a lifetime.

Question? Why do different cultures use and consume things at different rates? What do these numbers indicate about contemporary American culture?

Do they relate to… Average lifespan

Diet Is everything equal?

Income Countries based on World Bank income groupings for 2006 (calculated by GNI per capita, Atlas method). ██ High income blue ██ Upper-middle income green ██ Lower-middle income purple ██ Low income red

Access to goods

Culture

Climate

Global Trends Impact Our Footprint Today’s global population is 6.6 billion people

How will a growing population affect people’s access to food, potable water, and fuel ?

The choice will be yours.. Increase demands for water, food and fuel worldwide. Pollution and habitat loss will likely increase Population demands will continue to expand unless we act to diminish this affect.