demand exceeds supply !!!!

The Ecological Footprint measures humanity’s demand on the biosphere in terms of the area of biologically productive land and sea required to provide the resources we use and to absorb our waste.

In 2003 the global Ecological Footprint was 14.1 billion global hectares, or 2.2 global hectares per person (a global hectare is a hectare with world-average ability to produce resources and absorb wastes).

The total supply of productive area, or biocapacity, in 2003 was 11.2 billion global hectares, or 1.8 global hectares per person.

The footprint of a country includes all the cropland, grazing land, forest and fishing grounds required to produce the food, fibre and timber it consumes, to absorb the wastes emitted in generating the energy it uses, and to provide space for its infrastructure.

People consume resources and ecological services from all over the world, so their footprint is the sum of these areas, wherever they may be on the planet.

Global Footprint Network, U.S., in Ecological Footprint, an annexure to the Living Planet Index (published by WWF and the Zoological Society of London in April 2008) provided to this correspondent by Jonathan Loh, the editor, says that humanity’s footprint first grew larger than global biocapacity in the 1980s; this overshoot has been increasing every year since, with demand exceeding supply by about 25 per cent in 2003. This means that it took approximately a year and three months for the Earth to produce the ecological resources we used in that year.

Separating the Ecological Footprint into its individual components demonstrates how each one contributes to humanity’s overall demand on the planet.

This makes it possible to compare absolute levels of demand over time. The carbon dioxide (CO{-2}) footprint, from the use of fossil fuels, was the fastest-growing component, increasing more than nine-fold between 1961 and 2003.

How is it possible for an economy to continue operating in overshoot? Over time, the Earth builds up ecological assets, like forests and fisheries.

These accumulated stocks can, for a limited period, be harvested faster than they regenerate. CO{-2} can also be emitted into the atmosphere faster than it is removed, accumulating over time.

For 30 years now we have been in overshoot mode. If we remain in overshoot much longer we will deplete the planet’s biological resources and interfere with its long-term ability to renew them.

Demand exceeded supply by 25 per cent in 2003

CO{-2} footprint was the fastest growing component