Your Carbon Footprint
Over an average life time each American will…..........• Use 1.8 million gallons of water
Read 5,054 newspapers = 43 trees
Burn 31,350 gallons of gasoline
Discard 64 TONS of garbage
Humans have influenced 83% of Earth’s Surface
Question?
• Does this number seem like a lot or a little?
• Some areas are more vulnerable to human influence than others? Why might that be?
Food for thought..
• 83% is just over 4/5 ‘s of the Earth’s surface
• Areas that are highly vulnerable are those that are easily accessible to humans.
• Added to that is the demand for natural resources in those areas.
Here is the world footprint..
Our footprint varies around the world…• Americans make up 5 % of world’s
population
• We own 30% of world’s cars
• And consume 25% of world’s energy
• By an American’s first birthday we consume more energy than Tanzania generates in a lifetime.
Question?
• Why do different cultures use and consume things at different rates?
• What do these numbers indicate about contemporary American culture?
Do they relate to…
Average lifespan
Diet
• Is everything equal?
Income
Countries based on World Bank income groupings for 2006 (calculated by GNI per capita, Atlas
method).██ High income blue
██ Upper-middle income green██ Lower-middle income purple
██ Low income red
Culture
Climate
Global Trends Impact Our Footprint
• Today’s global population is 6.6 billion people
How will a growing population affect people’s access to food,
potable water, and fuel ?
The choice will be yours..
• Increase demands for water, food and fuel worldwide.
• Pollution and habitat loss will likely increase
• Population demands will continue to expand unless we act to diminish this affect.
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