awareloha.blogg.se - Macdoppler change footprint size

From other people too we can sometimes find traces that can tell us about their life –archaeology can only exist by using these ‘footprints’.

The humanlike creatures did not mean that to happen, they would not even have understood anything of this, they were just running for their life, away from the dangerous volcano. The footprints stayed for millions of years and were extremely valuable after they were found, because they tell us about our forefathers. The most famous – and most sustainable – footprints are the footprints of pre-human creatures who walked 3,5 million years ago on wet volcanic ashes in Laetoli (Eastern Africa, now Tanzania). Mostly they disappear quickly, but some will exist for a shorter or a longer time. It makes a big difference if a field is used for organic farming or poisoned by chemicals or if a hillside is used for harvesting wood or completely deforested. It only looks at hectares and not at the way they are being changed. In this project we do not work on the ‘ecological’ but on the sustainable footprint, because the ecological footprint model is too limited. The sustainable footprint – as different from the ecological footprint take the car less often and recycle everything)**

Decrease the total consumption through a decrease of the population and a reduced personal consumption (e.g.

A more efficient use of natural resources (eco-efficiency technologies, like energy saving light bulbs).

terraces on mountain slopes or solar panels on roofs)

Increase the productivity per surface unity of land (e.g.

There are different ways to achieve this: When the concept of the ecological footprint is used in sustainable development one will try to increase the living standard of many people, while decreasing the total footprint at the same time**. Sustainable Development and the Ecological Footprint The lifestyles can be regarded as unsustainable. This implies that the lifestyles in these countries have a negative influence on the available area of other countries and future generations. From calculations it appears that the lifestyle of people in Western countries causes a larger (between 3 and 6 hectares) footprint than the ‘Fair Earth Share’. In this way an idea can be obtained of society’s sustainability on different scales (local, national and international). Consumed goods and activities are taken into account when calculating the footprint. The footprint is a measure for sustainability. Furthermore if the world population increases the available area per person will decrease.

The exact size of this share differs among authors. This is also called the ‘Fair Earth Share’.

If the total area of productive land on earth is divided by the number of its inhabitants, there is 1.45 hectare productive land and 0.55 hectare fresh water available for each person. If we want to say anything about sustainability, we should compare the available area and the area that is required. Therefore the calculated ecological footprint is the total surface area of land that is required to maintain a certain lifestyle. The ecological footprint of a defined group of people (for example a household, town or country) is the total surface area of biologically productive land and amount of water needed to produce all the goods and energy (food, energy and other materials) and needed to decompose the litter that is produced by these same people or compensate for it. Ecological FootprintĪ way to express the availability and use of natural in a quantitative way is the ‘Ecological Footprint’**. The maintenance of natural resources is a subject that often appears when sustainable development is considered. The three possible goals of sustainable development are increasing economic efficiency, protecting and restoring ecological systems and improving human well-being, or a combination of the three. The main themes in sustainable development are ecological responsibility, economic efficiency and social well-being. The term ‘sustainable development’ is defined as ‘development fulfilling the needs of current generations, without decreasing the possibilities for future generations to fulfil their needs’*.