Explain ecological footprints and the IPAT equation. Compare the United States to the rest of the world in these terms

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The ecological footprint is a tool that represents the combined land and water resources needed to support a human population and to absorb its wastes. Unfortunately, the ecological footprint for the total human population exceeds Earth's ecological capacity by about 25 percent. Some countries such as the United States are using a greater proportion of Earth's resources than others. The ecological footprint for the United States is about 10 hectares per person, whereas for India and many African countries it is 1 hectare or less. It is clear that with a smaller population, U.S. citizens have greater consumption of energy and natural resources and greater production of waste. For example, the per capita production of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, of developed countries such as the United States averages nearly 13 metric tons/year, whereas it is only about 3 metric tons/year for developing countries.

Another way to integrate the multiple factors affecting use of environmental resources is the IPAT equation, or I = P ? A ? T.

I = environmental impact of resources used and wastes generated
P = size of the human population
A = affluence or level of consumption by a population
T = technology to obtain resources and transform them into useful goods and wastes

Although population numbers have a significant effect on the environment, it is apparent that A and T can also have a large effect. This simplistic approach has been criticized because of equal weighting of the P, A, and T factors. However, it does serve to delineate the important factors impacting our environment.