Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 1.1
Humanity's global footprint 1961-2005.
Think about this for a moment. In just one generation we
have gone from a situation where we consumed about one half of
what the sun provided each year, as plant and animal resources, to
a situation where we are consuming 50%
than the renewable
resources that nature can replenish. How is this possible?
more
1.
Climate Change
The explanation becomes clear if we break down the ecological
footprint by component, as shown in Fig. 1.2 from the WWF 2008
report. Here we see that by far the major contributor in 2005,
and the fastest growing component, is the “carbon footprint”, or
CO
emissions—now roughly 50% of the total—as opposed to only
about 10% in 1961. In absolute terms the 2005 carbon footprint
was roughly 13 times larger than the 1961 level!
Note that it is not so much increasing consumption, but rather
the utilisation of the sinks, that is, the storage facilities for CO
2
2
emissions—primarily from burning fossil fuels—namely the oceans
and the biosphere, that is the main problem. We will soon reach
capacity in the oceans' ability to absorb CO
. The direct results
for aquatic life alone are enormous, as ocean life is ultrasensitive
to small temperature increases, the increasing acidity due to
dissolving massive quantities of carbon dioxide and decreasing
salinity due to melting ice, e.g., coral reefs, which are a critical
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