Ecological footprint how is it measured

It is expressed in global hectares gha , or by number of planets, and it allows us to estimate the land surface needed by each individual to provide for their needs. The carbon footprint takes into account all greenhouse gases and is used to assess the impact of human activities on the environment. Carbon footprints can be individual, for a country, or global. These indicators, ecological footprints and carbon footprints , are two different ways to educate people about their environmental impact and encourage them to modify their habits, act against global warming, and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

For the past ten years, the date of Earth Overshoot Day has been decreasing. This date corresponds to the moment when humans have already consumed the resources that the planet can produce in one year.

For , Earth Overshoot Day was the 22nd of August , compared to the 29th of July in only three weeks earlier. According to the Global Footprint Network , this is due to changes in human activity during COVID19 and measures taken to fight the epidemic and proves that policymakers can act quickly and are able to put real, sustainable, developmental policies in place.

The resources consumed by each individual are subtracted from the resources generated by the planet over a year. The ecological footprint is measured in global hectares. On average, a European would need 4. The results of this calculation on a global scale show that the planet's capacity to meet the needs of its inhabitants is insufficient.

Please contact us if you would like more details. More questions about your Footprint? Jump to the Content Footprint Calculator Our mobile-friendly Footprint Calculator is now available in eight languages at www. Your free access to our Footprint Calculator is made possible by the generous donations of other calculator users. Please "pay it forward" now to give additional users access. Discover 40 simple rules to travel more sustainably! The ecological footprint measures how many natural resources produced by the Earth we consume with our actions, including travel.

The carbon footprint is a […]. In just 7 months we have finished the resources of our Planet. And from August 1st we begin to consume the sources that the earth is not able to regenerate. It is a Negative Record never achieved before. This Earth Overshoot Day calls us to action! Resources of our Planet are reaching their limit also this […]. Menu Skip to content. The number of hectares that result from this calculation are then converted to global hectares using yield and equivalence factors.

The Ecological Footprint of a group of people, such as a city or nation, is simply the sum of the Ecological Footprint of all the residents of that city or nation. What the economy produces plus all that is imported minus what the economy exports is the amount that population consumes. The term Ecological Footprint, capitalized, is a proper name referring to a specific research question: how much of the biological capacity of the planet is required by a given human activity or population?

There is a carbon component to the Ecological Footprint. It measures the amount of biological capacity, in global hectares, demanded by human emissions of fossil carbon dioxide. The term Ecological Footprint has been deliberately excluded from trademark to encourage its widespread use. Global Footprint Network strives to maintain the value of this term by encouraging our partners and others using the word footprint or Ecological Footprint to apply the term consistently, using the definition found in the Ecological Footprint Standards.

Global Footprint Network encourages research answering different questions to be referred to as something other than Ecological Footprint. Carrying capacity is a technical term that refers to the maximum population of a species that a given land or marine area can support.

Many species have easily defined and consistent consumption needs, making carrying capacity relatively easy to define and calculate. Ecological Footprint accounts approach the carrying capacity question from a different angle. Ecological Footprints are not speculative estimates about a potential state, but rather are an accounting of the past. Instead of asking how many people could be supported on the planet, the Ecological Footprint asks the question in reverse and considers only present and past years.

This is a scientific research and accounting question that can be answered through the analysis of documented, historical data sets. The Footprint tracks current human demand on nature in terms of the area required to supply the resources used and absorb the CO2 emitted in providing goods and services.

Trade is accounted for by allocating this demand to the country that ultimately consumes these goods and services. This accounting reflects import and export flows, but makes no judgment regarding the benefits, disadvantages or fairness of trade. The Ecological Footprint is therefore neither pro- nor anti-trade. As new technologies come on line that affect biocapacity and resource-efficiency, their impact on resource supply and demand are reflected in biocapacity and Footprint assessments.

In other words, the Footprint and biocapacity results reported in any given year are in part a function of the technology used in that year. This accounting does not judge whether the use of a technology is positive or negative, but only shows how the technology impacts resource flows.

Footprint assessments are historical rather than predictive, and make no judgment about the value of technologies that may become available in the future. The Footprint approach is neither pro- nor anti-GDP.

Gross Domestic Product GDP is an economic indicator used to track the annual value added to an economy. For a more comprehensive understanding of national trends, additional indicators are required—unemployment statistics, longevity figures, or ecological asset measures, for example. Global Footprint Network is working to have nations adopt the Ecological Footprint as a complement to, rather than as a substitute for, the GDP as a national indicator, in parallel with their use of the GDP. Though they are often compared and contrasted, Ecological Footprints and Water Footprints are, as indicators, fundamentally incapable of being substituted.

The Ecological Footprint does not, and is not intended to measure freshwater flows. Because this is nevertheless a vital renewable resource, in , A. Hoekstra proposed that the Water Footprint be created as a sustainable water use indicator measuring the total volume of freshwater directly or indirectly used by a population. In essence, the Ecological Footprint measures the biological capacity a population uses and the Water Footprint measures the freshwater a population uses.

They each provide a different piece of information in the sustainability puzzle. Instead of being seen as competing metrics, they should be seen as two complementary indicators of natural capital use in relation to human consumption. For more information on the similarities and differences between the Ecological and Water Footprints, please consult A.

The equivalence factor is the key factor that allows land of different types to be converted into the common unit of global hectares. The equivalence factor itself is a productivity -based scaling factor that converts one hectare of world-average land of a specific land type, such as cropland or forest, into an equivalent number of global hectares.

These equivalence factors are based on assessments of the relative productivity of land under different land types in any given year. In the most current Ecological Footprint accounts, an index of suitability for agricultural production is used as a proxy measure of the productive capacity of different land types. Other updated and refined methods for this calculation are continually being explored.

Equivalence Factors are available as a free download here. Within a given land type, such as cropland, the ability of an area to produce useful goods and services can vary dramatically based on factors such as climate, topography, or prevailing management.

Yield factors allow different areas of the same land type to be compared based on the common denominator of yield. National yield factors for pasture, for example, compares the productivity of average pastures in a specific nation to world-average pastures. These yield factors convert one hectare of a specific land type, such as pasture, within a given nation into an equivalent number of world-average hectares of that same land type.