Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 2.4
Ecological footprint and biocapacity of selected countries in the world.
Country
Ecological footprint
(hectares/person)
Carrying capacity
(hectares/person)
Reserve/deficit
(hectares/person)
Albania
1.9
0.9
−1.0
Angola
1.0
3.0
2.0
Argentina
2.6
7.5
4.9
Australia
6.8
14.7
7.9
Austria
5.3
3.3
−2.0
Belgium
8.0
1.3
−6.7
Bolivia
2.6
18.8
16.2
Brazil
2.9
9.0
6.1
Bulgaria
4.1
2.1
−2.0
Canada
7.0
14.9
7.9
China
2.2
1.0
−1.2
Colombia
1.9
4.0
2.1
Cuba
1.9
0.7
−1.2
Czech Republic
5.7
2.7
−3.0
Denmark
8.3
4.9
−3.4
Egypt
1.7
0.6
−1.1
Finland
6.2
12.5
6.3
France
5.0
3.0
−2.0
Germany
5.1
1.9
−3.2
Guinea
1.7
2.8
1.2
Hungary
3.0
2.2
−0.8
India
0.9
0.5
−0.4
Israel
4.8
0.3
−4.5
Japan
4.7
0.6
−4.1
Kuwait
6.3
0.4
−5.9
Lebanon
2.9
0.4
−2.5
Madagascar
1.8
3.1
1.3
Mauritius
4.3
0.6
−3.7
Mexico
3.0
1.5
−1.5
New Zeeland
4.9
10.8
5.9
Norway
5.6
5.5
−0.1
Portugal
4.5
1.3
−3.2
Saudi Arabia
5.1
0.8
−4.3
Spain
5.4
1.6
−3.8
Sweden
5.9
9.7
3.8
Trinidad and Tobago
3.1
1.6
−1.5
United Arab Emirates
10.7
0.8
−9.9
United Kingdom
4.9
1.3
−3.6
United States of America
8.0
3.9
−4.1
Uruguay
5.1
9.9
4.8
World
2.7
1.8
−0.9
Yemen
0.9
0.6
−0.3
Zimbabwe
1.2
0.8
−0.4
Data from the Global Footprint Network, 2010.
global biocapacity, 1.8 hectares per person, the net ecological deficit is 0.9 global hectare per
person; meaning that at this point, humans are living beyond their means; and when an
ecological deficit takes place, the ecosystem (in this case, the global ecosystem) takes
corrective actions to reinstate the balance.
