...The rapid increase of population is very threatening to the limited carrying capacity of our earth. Our ecological footprint already disastrous will become much more detrimental with the staggering population growth.1 Our ecological footprint is largely comprised of three main elements of consumption: food, wood, and land. However, components such as energy consumption also need to be accounted for.2 Food availability, to a great extent, determines the carrying capacity for every population of species. The growth of industrial agriculture has caused a tremendous increase in food production around the world.3 Be that as it may, these practises consist of mechanization and fertilization both of which are dependent on petroleum. The United States uses 12% of its oil intake on food production alone. As the amount of oil in the world begins to decrease, so will the production of food.4 As Thomas Robert Malthus quotes in his An Essay on the Principle of population, “... the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man.” 5 Malthus explains that the production of food cannot keep up with the rapidly increasing population.6 Wood consumption includes all the paper, packaging, wood furniture and firewood that we use day after day. 7 This part of the ecological footprint also needs to include the wood products that an individual uses in the systems and organizations that support them. Today, the world’s consumption of ...
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...Name Tutor Course Date Ecological footprint Introduction The planet Earth is the only planet that supports and sustains human life. The human activities carried out on the planet are gradually making the planet unfavorable to live on (Perman 81). Ecology involves the study of relationships between living organisms and their usual natural environment. This paper will define ecological footprint, present a deep understanding of the ecological footprint and show how it applies in measuring the peoples’ effects to the environment. The paper will also explain how the ecological footprint can be used in making choices that go in line with people’s lifestyles. The principles of ecological footprint date back to literatures related to geography, ecology and economics. However, the idea of the earth’s ecological footprint has been present since early 90’s (Wackernagel 35). William Rees in 1992 produced the first academic publication on ecological footprint. The concept of ecological footprint and calculation criteria was later developed by Mathis Wackernagel as a PhD dissertation under the supervision of Rees at British Columbia University in Vancouver. Originally, the concept was called the appropriated carrying capacity. Rees later came up with the ecological footprint term in order to ensure that the concept is accessible. The ecological footprint in the planet has transpired as the earth’s vital gauge of the individual’s demand on the environment and the...
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...Ecosystem: a part of a biome in which abiotic components interact with biotic components. Biodiversity: the variety of all living species of plants, animals, and micro-organisms on Earth. Niche: The special role an organism plays in an ecosystem, including the way in which it contributes to and fits into environment. Structural adaptations: a physical feature of an organism’s body having a specific function that contributes to survival of the organism. Physiological: a physical and chemical event that occurs within the body of an organism that enables survival. Behavioral: what an organism does to survive in the unique conditions of its environment. Species: a group of closely related organisms. Population: all members of a particular species. Community: all the population of the different species. Bioremediation: the use of organisms (micro or plants), to break down chemical pollutants in water or soil to reverse/lessen environmental damage. Decomposition: breaking down of organic wastes and dead organisms. Biodegradation: action of living things such as bacteria to break down dead organic matter. Decomposer: change wastes and dead organisms into usable nutrients. Detrivores: consumers that obtain their energy by eating bodies of small dead animals, plant matter, and animal wastes. Herbivores: primary consumers that eat plants. Carnivores: secondary consumers that eat primary consumers. Omnivores: consumers that eat both plant and animal. Natural selection: the...
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...growth has been the single most important policy goal across the world. The global economy is almost five times the size it was half a century ago (Tim Jackson, Published by the Sustainable Development Commission © March 2009, P1). Economic growth is supposed to deliver prosperity. Better investment return could indicate excellent corporation development, and higher incomes should mean better choices, richer lives, and an improved quality of life for us all. However, the banking crisis of 2008 forced us to confront our inability to manage the financial sustainability of the global economy and the ecological sustainability as well. In addition, led the world to the brink of financial disaster and shook the dominant economic model based on economic growth to its foundations. The aim of this report is to define sustainable economy in terms of six themes: ecology and sustainability; population and demographics; science and technology; economy; geopolitics and security; society and culture. Also, analyze the effects of issues of sustainable economy on management’s governance of the Colourful Corporation. Based on these analyses, this report will provides recommendations about future vision and strategy top management could consider for a sustainable Colourful Corporation. Based on these analyses, the following recommended visions and strategis will be given for Management to keep the Colourful Corporation’s sustainability: # # # # # # Introduction For the last five decades...
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...ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT Mohammad Khanbashi Managing for Sustainability In 2007, the Earth’s people used about 50% more natural resources than the planet could regenerate.1 A measure of the impact humans have on the environment is called an ecological footprint. A country’s ecological footprint is the sum of all the cropland, grazing land, forest and fishing grounds required to produce the food, fiber and timber it consumes, to absorb the wastes emitted when it uses energy and to provide space for infrastructure. WWF’s Living Planet Report 2010 found that in 2007 the global ecological footprint was 18 billion hectares. This means that the Earth’s people needed 18 billion hectares of productive land in order to provide each and every person with the resources they required to support their lifestyle 1 . Living Planet Report, WWF, GFN and ZSL, 2010 and to absorb the wastes they produced. The bad news is that there were only 11.9 billion global hectares available. In Australia, we’re consuming more than three times our fair share of the planet’s natural resources. If we continue these consumption patterns, we will face an ecological overshoot that will have far-reaching future consequences for people and nature. Australians have one of the largest environmental footprints per capita in the world, requiring 6.8 global hectares per person. If all people consumed the Earth’s resources the way that we do in Australia, it would take the resources of more...
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...5408224 In the article, An urban metabolism and ecological footprint assessment of Metro Vancouver (2013), Moore, Kissinger, and Rees present extensive data regarding urban metabolism analysis (UMA) of residential consumption and ecological footprint analysis (EFA) of the Metro Vancouver region for the year 2006. The authors first collect Metro Vancouver’s urban metabolism data from local and provincial government, and provincially owned corporations and include: Metro Vancouver reports, Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority reports, Province of British Columbia reports, as well as BC Hydro reports (Moore et al, 2013, p. 54). The authors then collect Metro Vancouver’s ecological footprint estimates, in global average hectares (gha), of the ecosystem area required on a continuous basis by the region’s population to produce the products and carbon emissions in which it produces (p. 54). The third figure accompanying the article (p. 57), which summarizes the urban metabolism and ecological footprint of Metro Vancouver for 2006 (p. 56), indicates that water represents the largest material flow through Metro Vancouver of 424,860,000 m3, but has the smallest ecological footprint of 34,550 gha (p. 57). The results on figure three (p. 57) also display that food (1,753,000 tonnes) contributes the largest component to the ecological footprint of 4,514,400 gha (p. 57). The authors determine that Metro Vancouver’s total ecological footprint in 2006 is equivalent to 10,054,400 gha...
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...snail. The periwinkle has tiny white and blue stripes around the shell, a little door at the opening to the shell, and the pointed shell that is thick and impermeable shell (Barnacles, 2014). From the data we collected, we can see that periwinkles are found from 0-48m up the shore line. This is the full range of data measurements collected so from between 0m and 9m there are very limited periwinkles, and also they are limited between 42m to 48m. Ecological niches are split between a fundamental niche and a realised niche. A fundamental niche is the niche (environment space of habitat) which the species will live if there are no biotic factors such as competition of a different species. The realised niche is the actual space and habitat that the species finds. The realised niche can be clearly seen on the kite diagrams as this is the data of where the Periwinkles were found at Island Bay. From this data we can see that the periwinkles are found in zones much further away from the splash zone and the low tide zone. The specific ecological realised niche results in the periwinkle being exposed to much more harsh abiotic factors. Abiotic factors such as higher temperature of the air as the sunlight is exposed to the higher rock region in comparison to the low water tide zones. Another abiotic factor is the lack of water that comes to the periwinkles habitat. The tides come in and out twice a day where the periwinkle will have to make the most of the water as they are only exposed to...
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...feature in the top 13 of a World Bank GDP per Capita survey with Norway sitting in 2nd. This economical stature could come not just from the vast natural resources in the area, but the emphasis on education and R&D in the area. Within the three countries an average of 4% of their GDP is spend on education, 0.5% above European average. This can be highlighted by the fact on average between the three countries 33% of the population is educated to tertiary level, the European average for this is 25%. The well educated population not only leads to high paying jobs in the tertiary and quaternary sector but also to an increased level of Patents due to the all-round smarter population. On average 283 patents (per million people) were filled in Scandinavia, giving them the exclusive rights to such inventions, again they were all vastly above the European average of 186. As well as economically and through education Scandinavia can be assessed as the most advanced part of the world due to their use of technology. Technology use, through a well educated population could figure greatly in the significance of Scandinavia being named the most advanced part of the planet. Scandinavia’s technology access can be highlighted by their internet penetration which, between the three countries never went below 84%, peaking at 91% (European average 56% and world average 27%) a vast difference in comparisons to most other regions in the world. As well as this their...
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...True/False: 1. The ecological niche of an organism includes its habitat. T/F 2. Every organism within a species has the same ability to acclimate, since this trait is genetically determined. T/F 3. The proximate cause of an observation is its true root explanation. T/F 4. A species’ realized niche is usually larger than its fundamental niche. T/F 5. It’s believed that true learning intelligence (as opposed to mere instinct) is most likely to develop in response to highly consistent and predictable situations that are encountered frequently. 6. The ecological envelope of a species is the catalog of conditions it is known to live under. T/F 7. One reason Atolla jellies do bioluminescence is to scare away giant squid. T/F 8. The tolerance limits of the young of a species are often more narrow than the tolerance limits of the adults of the species. T/F 9. The process of speciation is always caused by selective pressures. T/F 10. When estimating the mean value for some characteristic of a population, one way to increase the accuracy of the estimate is to increase the number of individuals sampled from the population. T/F 11. A parameter is measured for a sample in order to estimate the corresponding statistic for the population. T/F 12. Mutations increase genetic diversity, while natural selection decrease genetic diversity. T/F 13. One drawback to being a highly social or communal species is that resources must be shared and may...
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... Dhurim Gjureci The Measure of Ecological Footprint in Hopes to Reduce Human Consumption on the Earths Resources To: Benjamin Bradshaw GEOG*2210 (DE) S14 Environment and Resources From: Dhurim Gjureci 0678764 Thursday, July 17, 2014 The Measure of Ecological Footprint in Hopes to Reduce Human Consumption on the Earths Resources 1 GEOG 2210 S14 Dhurim Gjureci The Measure of Ecological Footprint in Hopes to Reduce Human Consumption on the Earths Resources By: Dhurim Gjureci Table of Contents What is Ecological Footprint? How is Ecological Footprint Measured? The Current State of the Earth Canada’s Ecological Footprint The Importance of Knowing Our Ecological Footprint Reduction Efforts Conclusion Bibliography...
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...Explain the difference between Neoclassical Environmental Economics, Ecological Economics, and Natural Resource Economics. The three approaches originate from three different schools of thought. Broadly, Neoclassical Environmental Economics (NEE) is the opposite of the Ecological Economics (EE), and Natural Resource Economics (NRE) lies somewhere between them. Let’s begin with the opposing views. Field states, ‘Environmental Economics is the application of the principles of economics to the study of how environmental resources are managed. (Field & Field 2013:2). In gist, NEE is an Anthropospheric view of the environment through micro and macro-economic principles and sociopolitical influences that ignores the other spheres of life. The environment, is a subsystem of economics and has no intrinsic value. It is merely a factor of production, and only manufactured goods/services have an intrinsic value. EE, on the other hand, is a holistic approach, broader in scope, concerned with the supply and demand of energy and matter within the biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and atmosphere - where contrastingly, the Anthroposphere is the subsystem. EE claims that NEE is totally dependent on the environment and that residuals and pollution are disruptive to natural processes and diminishes the earth’s bio-capacity. Environmental Economics’ primary focus is to manage the environment to supply services and goods in exchange for money (MO 2015 quoting Tietenberg 2014:7) whereas...
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...My Ecological Footprint Report Introduction The objective of the Ecological Footprint (EF) Calculator has allowed me to calculate overall impact on natural resources and to explore opportunities for changing my current lifestyle choices. It has also made me understanding of the linkages between environment, economy, society, and inter and intra-generational equity that relate each other. As our economy is generated by the goods and services developed from natural, social, built/financial capitals, this calculator highlights me the importance of how my daily decision-making can effect largely on the environment and my consumption is overtaken the ability of the earth to sustain inter and intra generations' life cycles. We including humans and other species have only one planet on the earth to survive well. Currently we have an ecological overshoot of human demands on natural assets which have exceeded the Earth's regenerative capacity. (Global Footprint Network, 2012) There are needs for precautions and remedial actions on increased consumptions over natural capital given by the planet's limited natural resources and ecological degradation. To avoid this upcoming effects, we all have our own individual's responsibility to reduce our impact and go GREEN from small to big chances which require our daily informed choices, planning, management, strategy and investment. Moreover, we should set realistic reduction targets and meet them for inter and intra-generations. The report...
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...models have failed to deliver humanity’s major wishes that include; full employment, prosperity and stability. Economic growth is dependent on the environment. Natural resources and ecosystems upon which humans depend on are dying out as a result of economic growth. The future is at risk if economies continue to harm the environment. This paper wishes to prove that there is prosperity without growth; through environmental sustainability programs. Aim a. To identify conditions that may define a sustainable economy and how they affect CEOs of Colorful Corporations. b. Providing future vision and strategies that should be considered for a sustainable Colorful Corporation by addressing the following issues: Ecology and sustainability, population and demographics, science and technology, and economy. Discussion Conditions that may defines a sustainable economy Achieving prosperity without growth seems impractical for many people....
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...Cognitive Psychology assessment 4, Outline and evaluate the use of cognitive interview opposed to the normal interview Findings concerning the unreliability of eye-witness accounts have led researchers to attempt to devise methods for improving retrieval. One of these methods is the cognitive interview. Cognitive interview was created by Fisher and Geiselman (1992).The Cognitive Interview technique is a questioning technique used by the police to enhance retrieval of information from the witnesses’ memory. The cognitive interview involves the encouragement of eyewitnesses’ to do four basic things when being interviewed. The first thing that the cognitive interview expects is for the EW to report every detail, regardless of how trivial it may seem. Secondly the cognitive interview expects every EW to recreate the context of the event with the witness encouraged to mentally recreate the environment or contacts they may have had. The EW will also be expected to recall the event in different orders such as in reverse order or at different stages. The last basic expectation from the EW Is to recall the event from different points of view or perspectives of what others may have been. These aspects of the cognitive interview were introduced because Geiselman et al realised the importance of recalled every detail, big or small. This is why he proposed looking at an event from different prospective, his thought process behind this was that people may recall more details if they take...
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...or storm) or newly created open areas (deforestation). Ecological succession has several levels including primary and secondary succession. Primary succession involves pioneer species, which are usually the first ones to colonize open areas. They are hardy species and include things like microbes, mosses, and lichens. Eventually, the pioneer species become replaced by climax species. Climax species only occur after a long period without disturbance. Climax species are usually long-lived and require a stable environment. Question 2: How can natural selection lead to the development of new species? What are the prerequisites and the limitations? Answer 2: Natural selection was first proposed by Charles Darwin in his book Origin of Species. Natural selection is the process by which certain gene combinations give an organism a certain advantage over the others in a population. This trait then becomes selected as the population continues to reproduce. For example, suppose a certain mouse can run faster than any of the other mice in a population. The mouse will have a better chance of outrunning predators and therefore will survive longer. Because this mouse can survive longer, he can reproduce longer and pass his "fast" genes to more mice. Eventually, most of the mice in the population will be faster. Speciation occurs when these selective advantages lead to an organism that can no longer reproduce with its original population. Think of how many bird species...
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