​On a global scale,

​The percentage of the population living in extreme poverty has reduced over time.

​

​In 1880, about 90% of the population lived in extreme poverty!

​

​Today, there are only about 730 million people living in extreme poverty today, and about 6.6 billion not living in extreme poverty.

​

​The global middle class...

​have an income per capita between $10 and $100 per day.

​

​Over time, the growth of the middle class has increased - with most countries coming out of Asia.

Ecological Footprint!

​Ecological footprint is...

the amount of land and water required to produce what we consume and to absorb the waste we generate.

​Some countries have a large ecological footprint eg. USA

EF is measured in global hectares (gha).

​

​As of 2017, each person in the USA requires 8.1 gha of land and water to produce the amount of resources they consume, and to absorb its waste!

​Some countries have a small ecological footprint eg. Brazil

As of 2018, each person in Brazil requires 8.6 gha of land and water to produce the amount of resources they consume, and to absorb its waste!

​

Fortunately, since their EF is lower than biocapacity, the country is in a biocapacity reserve.​

​

​global hectare (gh)

​​Global Hectare: The measurement unit for biocapacity and ecological footprint.

​

In 2019, there was 12.2 billion hectares of biologically productive land and water.

​

If you divide this by the global population (7.7 billion) it equals 1.6 hectares per person.

​

Globally, however, we use up to 2.2 hectares per person.

​Biocapacity

​Now remember, biocapacity is the capacity of an area to provide resources and absorb wastes.

​The biocapacity of the USA is 3.5gha per person! They technically have the space.

​However, with such a high ecological footprint of 8.1 gha, it puts the country in an biocapacity deficit / ecological debitor, which is where the EF is higher than the biocapacity.

​Biocapacity and EF are measured using the same unit - global hectares.

​Using ecological footprint as a measure of resource consumption...

​Does it have benefits?

​

Does it have any limitations / issues?

​

​What does it fail to take into account?

Water, Land & Food

​Learning aims:

To be able to describe the global trends and patterns in the availability and consumption of:

​

• water including embedded water in food and manufactured goods.

• land/food including changing diets in middle-income countries.

​Embedded water...

​is the water 'hidden' in food and other commodities.

​It is the water used is every stage required to make the food/product.

​Different products require different amounts of water in production.

Can you guess how much water is used to make the following products?​

​

unit: litres

​2 litres = 0.53 gallons

Lets explore the embedded water in pasta...

​

​1. water is used to grow wheat

​

​2. water is used to produce the fuel needed to power the machines used to harvest the wheat and transport it to factories

​

​3. water is used to create electricity in the factories to process the wheat into flour and pasta!

​Head to Managebac!