Environmental footprint

CONSIDER THE NATURAL CAPITAL OF THE EARTH

habiter ecologiquement

To respond to our needs, the earth allocates 1.8 hectares to each person on the planet, which equates to 12 billion hectares in total. The average environmental footprint of each human is, however, 2.7 hectares, yikes!

The inhabitants of the African continent consume less than 0.5 hectares each, while the average Canadian consumes 7.6 hectares; nearly four times the capacity of the earth’s natural capital.

11hectare = 100 m × 100 m or about 2 football fields

Consequently, it would take humanity a little less than eight months to consume all the natural resources that the planet can produce in one year.

Verdict: We have a deficit. Problem: The intensity of our methods of exploitation and the waste of our ecological assets - energy, materials, water, food, etc.

Solution: A more efficient use of natural resources, in particular our use of energy, the largest component of our environmental footprint.

World population now exceeds 7 billion people. If everyone held hands, the chain would go 147 times around the earth. If we wanted to take a second to welcome each earthling, it would take us more than 222 years.

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