Ecological footprint Survey

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Utah Valley University *

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1300

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Geography

Date

May 13, 2024

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docx

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3

Uploaded by MagistratePorcupine4304

1. If everyone on earth lived like you, how many Planet Earth’s would we need to provide enough resources? 3.3 Earths 2. Were you surprised by these results? Why or why not? I am very surprised and find it hard to really wrap mt head around. I recognize that not everyone on earth uses the same resources, but I don’t feel that eating chicken multiple times a week is enough to require over 3 planets to sustain the human race. I recognize that fact on paper but find it hard to simply see how quickly it gets out of hand. 3. Which category accounts for the largest share of resources you use? Food was the category that I took the most resources from and that in particular was interesting because I feel that I eat less often and more sustainably than the average American. If I am correct in thinking that then that really puts into perspective for me how much America is disconnected from the rest of the world in average consumption. 4. How do your daily habits affect global environmental systems? 1. Identify three global environmental systems that could be impacted by choices you make in your daily life, and examine in detail how these systems could be impacted. For example, perhaps your choices impact land, water, carbon, atmospheric, vegetation, winds, etc. Due to the fact that food was my biggest area I think the factors I have the largest effect on are probably land, carbon, and vegetation. I mentioned land because of all of the space required to grow crops or raise livestock as that requires a vast amount of space. I mentioned carbon because of the transportation system that brings fruits and vegetables that are out of season in the states from the southern hemisphere or from across the continent in Semi’s. Vegetation goes along with land in that I suspect a huge amount of natural vegetation is destroyed in order to protect the land that is used to grow new crops as well as raise and feed livestock. 5. As you can see, we are all tied through our daily habits to global environmental systems. Agreeing on how to resolve environmental
challenges, however, has not been an easy process for the international community. 1. Based on your reading, summarize the major issues underlying international efforts to address climate and environmental change. There are a slew of contributing factors that hinder the human race from taking more decisive action against climate change. Three examples of these are denial, economic obstacles in reducing GHG, and politics in policy making and execution. First there are those who simply reject the idea that the Earth is dying at all. Next there are those who don’t find the problem severe enough to dedicate the money required to take action. Even if an action is decided on there are then the politics of who must carry it out and how it will impact that nation or group as well as other small details that will be argued over and prevent the most effective outcome. 6. Examine the maps in this recent article in the journal Nature: Nature article.pdf . You DO NOT need to read the whole article, just look at the maps. 1. Where in the world does U.S. consumption impact species threats the most? Why do you think these regions are most impacted? The U.S. effects just about anyone outside of the states. The damage is very consistent across all of Asia and has hot spots in parts of Africa, a large portion of Europe, most of Mexico, and highlights throughout South America. The damage is nearly done equally to any and every nation except the U.S.I think that Asia is impacted so much because most if not all of these nations are of a large enough power to have an international reach and be involved in trading and shipping to the U.S. Other parts of the world mya only have a few nations large enough to get involved in the international market but Asia containing India and China alone accounts for a massive part of the developed world. Those massive populations are all wanting a part of the developed and stable U.S. economy so they drive their animals to extinction in an effort to provide for our daunting needs.
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