What Is the Ecological Footprint?什么是生態(tài)足跡？
什么是生態(tài)足跡？你的生態(tài)足跡是多少呢？ 閱讀文章后你可以進(jìn)入https：//www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en 進(jìn)行測試。
Humans need food， shelterand heating （in some locations）to survive. Our planet’s ecologicalresources help fulfill these needs. Buthow many resources do we 1）consume？This question can be answered using theEcological Footprint.
Just as a bank statement tracks incomeagainst 2）expenditures， Ecological Footprintaccounting measures a population’s demandfor natural ecosystems’ supply of resources andservices.
On the demand side， the Ecological Footprintmeasures an individual or a population’s demand forplant-based food and 3）fiber products， livestock andfish products， timber and other forest products， space forurban infrastructure， and forest to absorb its carbon dioxideemissions from 4）fossil fuels.
On the supply side， a city，or nation’s biocapacity representsits biologically productive land andsea area， including forest lands， grazinglands， cropland， fishing grounds， and builtupland.
The Ecological Footprint can be calculatedfor a single individual， city， country and the entireplanet.
The gap between the Ecological Footprint andbiocapacity is determined by several factors. PersonalEcological Footprint is the product of how much we useand how efficiently this is being produced. The biocapacityper person is determined by how many hectares ofproductive area there is， how productive each hectare is， andhow many people （in a city， country， or the world） share thisbiocapacity.
Many countries are “in the red”， which means they use morenatural resources （Ecological Footprint） than their ecosystemscan regenerate （biocapacity）. When a country’s biocapacity isgreater than its population’s Ecological Footprint， on the otherhand， the country boasts an “ecological reserve”.
Nations （also cities） can run ecological deficits by liquidatingtheir own resources， such as by overfishing; and emitting morecarbon dioxide into the atmosphere than their own ecosystems canabsorb.
What is Earth Overshoot Day？
When the entire planet is running an ecological deficit， we call it “overshoot”. At the global level， ecologicaldeficits and overshoot are the same， sincethere is no net import of resources to theplanet.
Earth Overshoot Day marks the datewhen humanity’s demand for ecologicalresources and services （Ecological Footprint）in a given year exceeds what Earth canregenerate in that year （biocapacity）.
Overshoot occurs when：
HUMANITY’S ECOLOGICAL
FOOTPRINT > EARTH’S BIOCAPACITY
1） consume v. 消耗
2） expenditure n. 經(jīng)費(fèi)；支出額
3） fiber n. 纖維
4） fossil n. 化石
人類需要食物、住所和供暖（在某些地方）才能生存。（剩余654字）