Carbon Footprint And Water Footprint Environmental Sciences Essay

cytosine trace And peeing stair Environmental Sciences EssayThe physical composition is pen on bionomic remains and its both subsets Carbon footmark and piddle tone. These diverse paces atomic number 18 report lances which argon utilise to measure the carry on of pick consumption on the environment. The shot helps in signifying that how deep benevolent macrocosms have penetrated to disturb the ecological balance. ecologic gradation is a boost indicator which is employ to achieve environmental sustainability. The paper starts with a picayune introduction on ecologic whole tone and is at that placefore followed by the blood amongst Biocapacity (BC) and ecological token (EF). BC and EF sh be a fork up and demand relationship.The BC and EF relationship is very(prenominal) of import beca make hold of it helps the analyst to conciliate a nations or regions inherent capital and resource consumption in that bio harvest-festivalive bea. If the bioc apacity of a bioproductive area is sufficient to satisfy the ecological impression thence its enjoind that the area has reserve resources. If the Biocapacity is not sufficient to fulfil the ecologic demand then there is deficit of resource. In this case, the nation or the region has to trade with new(prenominal)s for natural resources. The deficit of resources states that the consumption rate is very fast than the globes rejuvenateal rate.Carbon Footprint is an wee(a) tool which is employ to measure an individuals contri thation towards greenness house gas procession (GHG).Carbon Footprint calculator helps an individual to find out his carbon impression shelter. high gear the carbon Footprint the more contribution an individual is making towards globose Warming. piddle Footprint is also a subset of bionomic Footprint and is a invention concept. piss Footprint is an accounting tool which helps in determine the volume of bracing weewee consumed by an individual, g roup or city.The paper suggests few focussings by which Carbon and irrigate Footprint posterior be let downd. The only resolve for reducing the footprint measure is to pull ahead towards sustainability and to gift a sufficient and liveable Earth to our future sexual climax generations.CHAPTER I INTRODUCTIONThe bionomical Footprint is the measure to determine the consequence to which gentlemans gentlemanity beings consume geniuss resources to the do of money that screw be regenerated by the earth. The Ecological Footprint (EF) is basically a young accounting tool for renewable resources that is employ for determining the issues associated with sustainable consumption. Ecological Footprint represents the human demands for natures resources and how a great deal bioproductive lay and sea area is required to regenerate those resources to fulfil human demands under prevailing technology. The tool helps in determining how many Earths are required to support the presen t-day(prenominal) humanity practices and consumption. In 2006, it was stated by UN that the homophileitys Total Ecological Footprint was approximately 1.4 planet Earths this estimate signifies that to human race consumes resources 1.4 times faster than the Earth to renew them. It takes nearly three long time for UN to collect all the data from all the nations to estimate Humanitys contribute Ecological Footprint.The Ecological Footprint tool is ordinarily utilize in attendant with Biocapacity (BC) and is expressed as EF/BC. Biocapacity refers to capacity of the area to provide natural resources and to allow or absorb louse up. When the Ecological Footprint exceeds the Biocapacity mark it leads to un-sustainability. Thus the numerical difference of opinion between EF and BC trick be positive or negative, where positive means deficit and negative means waste. The concept of EF/BC is a good analytical tool for creating awareness about resource consumption, depletion and regen eration. This tool is also very important for making the mint earn the ability of Earth to regenerate consumed resources and to absorb the waste materials in a limited time frame.The Ecological Footprint value that is metric at the end for assessment are categorized for goods, services, carbon release, pissing employment, ho using area, take down utilise for work or any new(prenominal) purpose and also the number of earths that provide be required to meet the worlds universe and their levels of consumption. Ecological footprint is measured in legal injury of globose hectares (gha). This accounting measure is very much similar to the spirit cycle psychoanalysis where the energy and resource consumption are converted into a normalized value which is the measure of democracy called the planetary hectares.HISTORYThe concept of Ecological Footprint was first published in 1992 by William Rees. The concept was deeply explored by Mathis Wackernagel under Mr. Rees supervisio n at University of British Columbia in Canada from 1990-94. sooner the concept was named as Appropriate Carrying Capacity but was later changed to Ecological Footprint after acquire inspired by a estimator technician who appreciated the look of his new exerciser as a minuscule footprint on the desk. A book was published in 1996 by Rees and Wackernagel called Our Ecological Footprint Reducing Human Impact on the Earth. expect FOR ECOLOGICAL impressionEcological Footprint is an accounting tool which is used to measure the consumption of Earths resources by individuals, territory, states, nations and world to their corresponding capacity of Earth to regenerate those resources and absorb the wastes. The tool notify be used forAnalysing the life style of the people and their daily resource consumption.Examining the extent to which a nation is utilising its biocapacity and then comparing the results with that of the other nations.Educating the people to make them realize about the biocapacity and the everywhere consumption of natures resources with an idea to change their mortalal habits and resource utilization.Determining the actions and flow rate lifestyles of the people and the nation which are not sustainable.Motivating the Multinational Companies to compute their own Ecological Footprint and take required measures to reduce the computed value. This can be done by fetching initiatives towards environmental sustainability and by variateulating corporate social responsibility policies.CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATUREECOLOGICAL tone FUNDAMENTALSThe Ecological Footprint (EF) is used to measure how much renewable resources of the biosphere are consumed by human and how fast the Earth is able to renew those resources. The renewable resources include croplands, animal products, wood and timber, fish, etc.The consumption of resources and the use of built up bioproductive area is measured in price of global hectares (gha). It is a measure of how much biop roductive land and sea has been used by individuals, territories, states and nations to produce the consumable renewable resources and then to absorb the waste.The global ease off ingredient by pillow slip of consumption is a measure which translates the product into an area that is required to produce that product. The product to be consumed can be crops, timber, fisheries, quondam(prenominal)ure, etc. The productivity of the product depends upon the time selection, product selection (animal products, crops, fish) and the geek of land associated with the products croplands for crop, dairy farms for animal products, fisheries for fishes.The equivalence element translates the land character reference into global hectares (in gha/ha). This factor determines the worlds add up productivity of a given type of productive area to the worlds average productivity of all the areas.In usual there are six ecological bioproductive areaCrop land The land used for growing g rains, vegeta bles, fruits and for feeding the livestock. From ecological perspective it is the just about productive area.Pasture The land that is used for grazing the livestock, to build poultry farms, to produce dairy products like cheese and butter.Forest The land that is used for growing trees or natural forest which can in hug drug yield timber. They serve other ecological purposes also like preventing blot erosion, ecological balance, protecting biodiversity, climate stability and maintaining the hydrological cycles.Sea, Rivers and Oceans They maintain the marine life and provide fishing facilities. They also help in maintaining and balancing temperatures, land and sea breeze, capturing the solar energy, etc. The coastal area provides the seas ecological proceeds. cypher land The land used to sequester carbon dioxide and for accumulating equivalent amount of usable energy.Built up land The land that is used by humans for their settlements, building houses, roads and constructing high end infrastructures. It is noticed that human settlement is mostly concentrated in the fertile areas of the region.It is very important for every individual to calculate their Ecological Footprint to know their stand. Human beings are the only ones responsible for the depletion of natural resources. They have started consuming so many resources and so rapidly that it is not possible for the Earth to do it up with its rate and thus revolution of resources is delayed. Globalization is the veritable market place trend. Everything is turning global, underdeveloped countries are utilising this opportunity to gain competitive benefit and to strengthen their economy by investing in infrastructure. To set up a new infrastructure land, money and resources are required where land comes from the reserved forest lands and resources from the surplus quota.The forest lands are for the animals, its their natural habitat. utilize the forest land disturbs the biodiversity and thus leads to ex tinction of many species. Forest lands are also major areas for preventing soil erosion and balancing ecological cycles. The utilisation of resources should be such that the coming generations can also have rile to these resources without compromising. The future generation also have the rights to use natural resources and if the current trend is followed where the rapid resource utilization is taking place then the very soon these resources will deplete and there will be nothing to use. in that respect are many Ecological Footprint calculators unattached these days to calculate individuals, nations and world Ecological Footprint. The calculators measure the difference between the Ecological resource usage and the biocapacity which is used to determine per capita resource amount. The next section will explain the EF and BC accounting which is a tool to measure whether the bioproductive area has surplus or deficit resources.ECOLOGICAL stair AND BIOCAPACITY ACCOUNTINGThere is a steady rate at which the nature can restore the renewable resources which have been consumed. The idea behind Ecological Footprint is not to get a value for which resources are being used and how much resource consumption is done by an individual, territory, state or nation but instead how fast they being consumed. The current scenario states that the consumption rate is very high in comparison to the renewal rate of Earth.Ecological Footprint and biocapacity relationship is similar to the Demand-Supply relationship in economics. Ecological Footprint measures the bioproductive area (land or water) required by the cosmos to consume renewable resources under the prevailing technology to produce waste which is to be absorbed. Biocapacity is the capacity of the area to produce renewable resources. Thus, Ecological Footprint is the demand for renewable resources and Biocapacity is the supply of renewable resources. When EF and BC are used together they are either referred to as EF/BC ac counting or simply EF accounting. EF accounting is a tool to compare the supply with the demand.The difference between the EF and BC can either be positive or negative. The positive value refers to deficit of natures renewable resources and negative value refers to the surplus/reserve of natures renewable resources.EF-BC =Positive.. DeficitEF-BC =Negative.. Surplus portend 1A nations ecological deficit can be compensated by getting into trade agreements with other nations who have ecological reserves or by liquefying ecological assets. In case of global ecological deficit there is no compensation available and is thus equal to overshoot. The Ecological footprint can be decreased withA small population per a given areaLess consumption of resources per soulHigh resource efficiency which can be quickly renewed.It is possible that the demand can exceed the biocapacity mark thereby leading to overshoot. This can occur whenThe trees and crops are harvested faster than they can re-grow.De pletion in the fisheries before being restocked.Quick emission of CO2 into the automated teller machine making it difficult for the ecosystem to sequester it.Overshoot is no longer a local anesthetic phenomena but instead a global phenomena. It is not just that people have started using more resources but have also started invading natures principle. Some effects of overshoot areNatural capital liquidationAccumulation of CO2 in the air travelDeforestationLack of biodiversityScarcity of freshwaterFigure 2 collusive ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTThe Ecological Footprint can be calculated by individually examining the amount of land used forCrop shadeGrowing timberGrazing animals and livestockFishingTransportation build hi-tech infrastructureEnergy productionElectricity usageAn individuals Ecological Footprint can be calculated by summing all these areas. The natural capital per psyche can be calculated by taking the total population and then dividing it by the number of hectares of bioprodu ctive land. The current value for individual Ecological Footprint is 4.7 on the planet per person.The average productivity of different bioproductive area varies from other areas as they depend upon the weather conditions and the way the area is maintained. For example the average productivity of croplands is more than any other land types. Thus the areas productivity is converted into its corresponding equivalence factor so as to represent it in global hectares. The equivalence factor remains the same for all nations but it varies each year because of sexual intercourse productivity and the land usage depending upon the environmental factors (weather).Figure 3The average bioproductive area per person worldwide was 1.8 approximately in 2006. The World wide-cut Fund for Nature claims that the human ecological footprint has exceeded the planets biocapacity by 20%.Footprint per capita ofUnited States of America- 9.0 ghaSwitzerland- 5.6 ghamainland China- 1.8 ghaThe average Ecological Shoe Size for different regions in global hectares can be seen down the stairs. North America leads the map with the highest ecological footprint.Figure 4Among the nations United States of America, India and China have the highest Ecological Footprint. While calculating the EF without knowing the population size of that country it cannot be stated what the population or each individual is demanding. Both India and China are highly populated countries but their resource usage is below the world average value. In case of US, the average footprint per person is five times that of the world average.Ecological Footprint of individuals residing in developing countries is less than the individuals residing in developed countries. Developed countries use advance technology and have modern infrastructure which require more resources for their working and caution thus making its individual Ecological Footprint above 4.7. In case of developing countries the value is low because of less ind ustrialization and usually floats below 4.7.APPLICATION OF ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTThe Ecological Footprint can be applied to judicatures, individuals, territories, cities, states, nations and world as a whole. It helps in cooking and to budget the natural capital. Thus the EF can be used in for different applications and it can be ensured that the EF remains as low as possible. This can be done byUsing resource in force(p) technologies that require minimal natural capital.Motivating people to maintain a clean environment by reducing the need of fossil can and by making the area pedestrian friendly.Encourage family planning and reduce family size so that per person consumption of resources is saved.SUBSETS OF ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINTThe Ecological Footprint can be further categorized intoCarbon Footprint weewee FootprintBoth the types of footprints are briefly taken up in following sections.CARBON FOOTPRINTThe term Carbon Footprint refers to the total bunch of unripe House Gases emissi ons caused by a person, product, community, organization or an activity. The Carbon Footprint is usually measured in terms of amount of carbon dioxide released it can be either in dower of carbon dioxide (gas) or in kilograms of carbon (solid particles).Carbon Footprint is a division of Ecological Footprint and Life Cycle Assessment. A Green House Gas Assessment can be taken up to calculate individuals, organizations and nations Carbon Footprint. Once the Carbon Footprint is known several(a) strategies can be devised to reduce it. Few Strategies areAdopting Cleaner technology processEfficient product and process managementUsing green product which are eco- friendlyUsing renewable sources of energyProcuring and using green raw materialsAdopting waste management practicesPractising Carbon offsetting programmesCarbon Offsetting is the decrement of Carbon footprint by the mitigation of Carbon Footprints through utility(a) project development like wind energy, solar energy, and refo restation.TWO part OF CARBON FOOTPRINTA Carbon Footprint is made up of two parts Primary footprint and Secondary footprint.Primary Footprint Primary Footprint refers to the direct emission of Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere. come in emission can be by burn of fossil fuels, transportation, factory chimneys, burning of crops for crop rotation, etc.Secondary Footprint Secondary Footprint refers to the collateral emission of Carbon Dioxide. Indirect emission refers to getting associated with the product or process which is directly emitting carbon dioxide. Example of Secondary Footprint is barter foring products wherein during the product lifecycle carbon dioxide emission had taken place. So the more you buy the more you will contribute towards secondary emission.The following questionnaire can be taken to check how much an individual contributes towards validating carbon dioxide emission.Do you eat vegetarian nutriment or non vegetarian food?Do you buy or grow organic food?Do you buy local food and goods?Do you buy new clothes or second authorise clothes?Do you buy new appliances or second slip by appliances?Do you use things that are recyclable?Do you try to use common vehicle while travelling?The chart below shows the amount of Carbon dioxide release in to the atmosphere Primary FootprintFigure 5WATER FOOTPRINTWater Footprint is an accounting tool to measure the total volume of fresh water used for goods and production manufacturing and consumed by individuals, groups or community. Water Footprint is measured in terms of volume consumed or water polluted per unit of time. Water Footprint can be calculated for consumers or producers. Consumers include an individual, community, family, familiarity, village, province or a city. Producers include public or private organizations.Water Footprint is an indicator which not only measures the volume of water used or polluted but also the regions and locations. Water Footprint is a novel subset of Ecological F ootprint and it does not provide any light on contribution of embedded water towards environmental impact or water stress.COMPONENTS OF WATER FOOTPRINTWater Footprint consists of 3 componentsBlue Water Footprint It accounts to the total volume of freshwater that has been used or evaporated from find or ground water to produce products and services which are consumed by individual, groups or society.Green Water Footprint It accounts to the total volume of water evaporated from the soil (moisture content of the soil because of rain water)Grey Water Footprint It accounts to the volume of polluted water that is used for the production of goods and services for groups, society or individuals. It also refers to the amount of water required to dilute the pollutants such that the water remains above the acceptable standards for water quality.WATER FOOTPRINT OF INDIVIDUAL CONSUMERSWater Footprint for individual consumers refers to the total amount of fresh water consumed either directly or indirectly by the them. Direct consumption is the water used at home for drinking, washing, cleaning and other purposes. Indirect consumption is the total volume of fresh water used for producing goods and other services which are then consumed by the consumers.The average Water Footprint worldwide is 1240 m3 water/person/year.Chinese 700 m3 water/person/yearUnited States of America 2480 m3 water/person/yearFinnish 1730 m3 water/person/yearUnited Kingdom 1695 m3 water/person/yearWATER FOOTPRINT OF BUSINESSESThe corporate water footprint is the total volume of freshwater that is either directly or indirectly used for carrying out business activities. The Water Footprint for corporate organization consists of two components the direct use of water by the producer for supporting activities and the indirect use of water during the supply chain process.WATER FOOTPRINTS OF NATIONSWater Footprint of Nations depicts the usage of water for producing the products and services which are to be consumed by the citizen of that nation. This Water Footprint has two components the Internal Water Footprint and the External Water Footprint.Internal Water Footprint refers to the requisition of domestic water resources and foreign Water Footprint refers to requisition of water resources in some other countries. In Japan, 65% of total Water Footprint comes from other country. consequenceEcological Footprint, Carbon Footprint and Water Footprint are very important accounting tool to measure bioproductive areas capacity, carbon dioxide emission and the usage of fresh water. The consequence of increased Carbon Footprint means more emission of Green House gases which leads to Global Warming and climatic changes. There have been noticeable changes in the environment and the weather in the past two decades. Human activities has badly hampered the chemical composition of the atmosphere by practising and using products that emit Green House Gases (GHG).The consequence of GHG accumulation is that the atmosphere blanket will deplete and a blanket of GHG will form around the earth. This will lead to extremely high temperature resulting into melting of icebergs and snow. The sea level will rise tremendously and will destruct everything. The high temperatures may also expand the deserts thereby altering the countryside permanently. The early symptoms are already been seen such as change in the local climate, crop yields, human health, growing number of diseases, and water supplies.All individuals essential take the Carbon Footprint test which is called the Carbon Calculator. The test will help in determining an individual attachment with carbon. Whatever be an individuals score it is every human beings responsibility to save the planet and to belittle the release of Green House Gases. At individual level dissimilar activities can be taken to reduce an individuals Carbon Footprint.At bodied level the organization moldiness adopt a Corporate favorable Responsibility (C SR) Policy to which it will always abide. A corporate moldinessiness practice and use such products or materials which are eco friendly. The corporate must ensure that all its employees participate in CSR activities and work together towards environmental sustainability. The Corporate must also measure its Water Footprint and must always replenish the water source from where it has taken fresh water for its production of goods and services. Multinational Companies who can afford should build up rain water harvesting plants and sheds for social welfare. The Companies can themselves take initiatives to educate the people and improve the society and set a path towards environmental sustainability.