GEOG 170 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Ecological Footprint, Biocapacity, Sustainable Forest Management
Document Summary
Lecture #3: the resources we use and the waste we. A measure of how much area of biologically productive land and water an individual, population, or activity requires to produce all the resources it consumes and to absorb the waste it generates. Footprint: resources humanity uses in a year (contributions: population, resource consumption) Biocapacity: what earth can regenerate in a year (contributions: natural resource availability) Resource use and availability are not evenly distributed. Ecological overshoot: when the resources we"ve consumed exceeds the biocapacity of the planet. Californians actually have a lower average footprint than the average. Arid land (low biocapacity due to lack of water) Home to approximately 2/3 of the species on earth. Provide fuel wood, lumber, paper, medicines, dyes, foods, and fibers. Forest resources in haiti were rapidly depleted by french colonialists, using imported slave labor. Lower rainfall and higher population density on the haitian side exacerbated impacts.
