Tuesday June 5, 2012
Ailing Earth
On World Environment Day today, we look at what’s troubling the planet.
BIGFOOT
OVER the past five decades, the size of man’s footprint on Earth has more than doubled. Humanity is now using nature’s services 52% faster than what the planet can renew, according to the latest calculations by Global Footprint Network.
The group, which had introduced the “ecological footprint” in 1990 as a way to measure human pressure on the planet, says humanity has been in “ecological overshoot” since the 1970s, gobbling up the planet’s resources faster than they can be replenished.
Today, we use the equivalent of 1.5 planets to provide the resources we use
and absorb our waste. This means it now takes the Earth one year and six months
to regenerate what we use in a year. It is projected that if current population
and consumption trends continue, we will need two Earths to support us by the
2030s. But we only have one.
A burgeoning population and high consumption rates are inflating our feet size. Man’s ecological footprint (the land required to produce the world’s resources and absorb its waste) is 2.7 global hectares (gha) per person but Earth’s bio-capacity (productive land and water) is only 1.8gha per person. (Based on 2008 figures, the most recent year for which data is available.) This results in an ecological overshoot of 50%. We are living beyond our ecological means. As the overshoot expands, the risk of ecological instability becomes greater.
Malaysians have big feet – 3.9gha per person. This is way larger than the global average. Compared with the nation’s bio-capacity of 2.5gha per person, we have an ecological overshoot of 55%. If everyone in the world consumed like Malaysians, we would need 2.2 planets to sustain ourselves. Ranked at 46, we are in the upper one-third of the list of 150 nations.
The 10 countries with the largest ecological footprints are Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Denmark, the United States, Belgium, Australia, Canada, Netherlands and Ireland. If everyone in the world lived like the average resident of Qatar, we would need 6.5 planets to regenerate our resources and absorb the carbon dioxide emissions. If everyone lived like the Americans, we would need the resources of four planets.
Carbon is the largest driver behind man’s growing feet. Carbon emissions related to fossil fuel consumption account for more than half the global ecological footprint, at 54%. Land used for food production is another major factor in humanity’s increasing footprint.
DYING OUT
THE WWF Living Planet Index tracks the population trends of 2,688 species of
mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish from around the globe.
The latest index shows a decline of 28% between 1970 and 2008. This trend is seen across terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems, but is greatest for freshwater species, whose populations show an average 37% decline. The drop in biodiversity has been more much serious in tropical regions (60%) than in temperate regions.
EMPTIED SEAS
A NEARLY five-fold increase in global marine fish catch, from 19 million
tonnes in 1950 to 87 million tonnes in 2005, has left many fisheries
over-exploited.
Targeted fishing of top predators has changed whole ecological communities, with increasing abundance of smaller marine animals at lower trophic levels. This, in turn, has an impact on the growth of algae and coral health.
Subsidies for fishing are contributing to the rapid depletion of many fish species and are preventing efforts to save and restore global fisheries. As much as 40% of the world’s oceans are heavily affected by human activities, including pollution, depleted fisheries and loss of coastal habitats.
PARCHED LANDS
WATER scarcity affects every continent and more than 40% of the global
population. There is sufficient fresh water but due to bad economics and poor
infrastructure, millions die each year from diseases associated with inadequate
water supply, sanitation and hygiene. Many river basins experience water
scarcity and are over-drained, hampering critical ecosystem functions. Some 2.7
billion people suffer water shortage for at least one month a year.
FEED THE WORLD
Our soils, freshwater, oceans, forests and biodiversity are being rapidly degraded, therparchedeby threatening the capacity of the planet to provide nutritious food for all.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation says one in seven people suffer from malnourishment. About one-third of the world food production for human consumption - some 1.3 billion tonnes - are lost and wasted each year.
We have to rethink how we grow, share and consume our food if we are to nourish today’s 925 million hungry and the additional two billion people expected by 2050.
The FAO calls for food consumption and production systems to “achieve more
with less,” and says it is necessary to shift to nutritious diets with a smaller
environmental footprint, as well as reduce food losses and waste.
Some 500 million small farms worldwide, most still rain-fed, provide up to 80% of the food consumed in much of the developing world. Investing in these smallholders is an important way to increase food security.
SWELTERING HEAT
THE past few decades have been warmer than any other comparable period for the last 400 years. Limiting the global average warming to 2°C above pre-industrial levels will require hefty emission cuts of over 80%. If that does not happen, most parts of the world will see a temperature hike of above 2°C annually by 2040.
Carbon dioxide levels would have increased even more were it not for the fact
that about one-quarter of the gas is being absorbed by grasslands and forests,
and another quarter by oceans.
Energy is the dominant contributor to climate change, accounting for around 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
WARMING OCEANS
THE world’s oceans – their temperature, chemistry, currents and life – drive global systems that make the Earth habitable for humankind.
Our rainwater, drinking water, weather, climate, coastlines, much of our food and even the oxygen in the air we breathe, are all ultimately provided and regulated by the sea. Careful management of this essential resource is a key feature of a sustainable future.
Oceans absorb about one-quarter of the carbon dioxide produced by humans. The
result: ocean acidity has increased by 30% since the Industrial Revolution. At
the same time, oceans have absorbed 80% to 90% of the heating from rising
greenhouse gas concentrations over the last half-century, driving up ocean
temperatures.
The rising temperatures of both the atmosphere and oceans are altering worldwide weather patterns, including humidity, precipitation, atmospheric circulation and storm attributes.
HUMAN HABITAT
CITIES play a vital role in the social and economic development of countries. Strong urban economies are essential for generating the resources needed for public and private investments in infrastructure, education and health, improved living conditions and poverty alleviation.
However, cities the world over are plagued by numerous problems such as
congestion, inadequate housing, declining infrastructure, pollution, poverty and
water shortages.
The world’s cities occupy just 2% of the planet, but account for 60% to 80% of energy consumption. Human settlements have got to be made environmentally sustainable to ensure our future.
■ Sources: United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Global Footprint Network, Living Planet Index Report 2012
OVER the past five decades, the size of man’s footprint on Earth has more than doubled. Humanity is now using nature’s services 52% faster than what the planet can renew, according to the latest calculations by Global Footprint Network.
The group, which had introduced the “ecological footprint” in 1990 as a way to measure human pressure on the planet, says humanity has been in “ecological overshoot” since the 1970s, gobbling up the planet’s resources faster than they can be replenished.
A burgeoning population and high consumption rates are inflating our feet size. Man’s ecological footprint (the land required to produce the world’s resources and absorb its waste) is 2.7 global hectares (gha) per person but Earth’s bio-capacity (productive land and water) is only 1.8gha per person. (Based on 2008 figures, the most recent year for which data is available.) This results in an ecological overshoot of 50%. We are living beyond our ecological means. As the overshoot expands, the risk of ecological instability becomes greater.
Malaysians have big feet – 3.9gha per person. This is way larger than the global average. Compared with the nation’s bio-capacity of 2.5gha per person, we have an ecological overshoot of 55%. If everyone in the world consumed like Malaysians, we would need 2.2 planets to sustain ourselves. Ranked at 46, we are in the upper one-third of the list of 150 nations.
The 10 countries with the largest ecological footprints are Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Denmark, the United States, Belgium, Australia, Canada, Netherlands and Ireland. If everyone in the world lived like the average resident of Qatar, we would need 6.5 planets to regenerate our resources and absorb the carbon dioxide emissions. If everyone lived like the Americans, we would need the resources of four planets.
Carbon is the largest driver behind man’s growing feet. Carbon emissions related to fossil fuel consumption account for more than half the global ecological footprint, at 54%. Land used for food production is another major factor in humanity’s increasing footprint.
DYING OUT
The latest index shows a decline of 28% between 1970 and 2008. This trend is seen across terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems, but is greatest for freshwater species, whose populations show an average 37% decline. The drop in biodiversity has been more much serious in tropical regions (60%) than in temperate regions.
EMPTIED SEAS
Targeted fishing of top predators has changed whole ecological communities, with increasing abundance of smaller marine animals at lower trophic levels. This, in turn, has an impact on the growth of algae and coral health.
Subsidies for fishing are contributing to the rapid depletion of many fish species and are preventing efforts to save and restore global fisheries. As much as 40% of the world’s oceans are heavily affected by human activities, including pollution, depleted fisheries and loss of coastal habitats.
PARCHED LANDS
FEED THE WORLD
Our soils, freshwater, oceans, forests and biodiversity are being rapidly degraded, therparchedeby threatening the capacity of the planet to provide nutritious food for all.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation says one in seven people suffer from malnourishment. About one-third of the world food production for human consumption - some 1.3 billion tonnes - are lost and wasted each year.
We have to rethink how we grow, share and consume our food if we are to nourish today’s 925 million hungry and the additional two billion people expected by 2050.
Some 500 million small farms worldwide, most still rain-fed, provide up to 80% of the food consumed in much of the developing world. Investing in these smallholders is an important way to increase food security.
SWELTERING HEAT
THE past few decades have been warmer than any other comparable period for the last 400 years. Limiting the global average warming to 2°C above pre-industrial levels will require hefty emission cuts of over 80%. If that does not happen, most parts of the world will see a temperature hike of above 2°C annually by 2040.
Energy is the dominant contributor to climate change, accounting for around 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
WARMING OCEANS
THE world’s oceans – their temperature, chemistry, currents and life – drive global systems that make the Earth habitable for humankind.
Our rainwater, drinking water, weather, climate, coastlines, much of our food and even the oxygen in the air we breathe, are all ultimately provided and regulated by the sea. Careful management of this essential resource is a key feature of a sustainable future.
The rising temperatures of both the atmosphere and oceans are altering worldwide weather patterns, including humidity, precipitation, atmospheric circulation and storm attributes.
HUMAN HABITAT
CITIES play a vital role in the social and economic development of countries. Strong urban economies are essential for generating the resources needed for public and private investments in infrastructure, education and health, improved living conditions and poverty alleviation.
The world’s cities occupy just 2% of the planet, but account for 60% to 80% of energy consumption. Human settlements have got to be made environmentally sustainable to ensure our future.
■ Sources: United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Global Footprint Network, Living Planet Index Report 2012
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