Define ecological footprint and differentiate between the ecological footprint of a developing country and that of the United States

Question

Support or challenge the following statement: "The population problem does not lie entirely with the developing world."

Answer 1

An ecological footprint is the cumulative amount of land and water required to provide the raw materials that a person or population consumes and the disposal or recycling of waste that is produced. The ecological footprint of the average U.S. citizen is significantly larger than that of the average resident of a developing country and is clearly unsustainable. The population problem does not lie entirely with the developing world because the developed world's consumption is rising faster than its population (e.g., China). Some scientists have suggested that increasing consumption poses a larger environmental problem than increasing population. This is because, although an expanding population will sooner or later run into its limits of growth, there is no theoretical limit to consumption. In the face of the demand for luxury products and the all?too?human desire not only to use these products but to flaunt them as status symbols, consumption could conceivably rise without limits.