Assignment 1 Your Ecological Footprint

ASSIGNMENT 1: Ecological Footprint
The assignment needs to uploaded on blackboard as a WORD document . Please notify your instructor for any
delays immediately. Every (part of a) day late for handing in assignments will result in a deduction
of 2/3 of a letter grade for that assignment (e.g., B+ (3.3, on time) to B- (2.7, one day late) to C (2
days late) etc.
Save the answer sheet using the following file name as a word document:
Surname.EcoFootprint.doc (Example: Bosker.EcoFootprint.docx)
STAY WITHIN WORD LIMITS!

TO MAKE THIS A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD FOR ALL STUDENTS WE WILL CHECK AND
DEDUCT POINTS EVERYTIME YOU EXCEED THE WORD LIMIT.
Introduction:
This assignment is centered around the concept of Ecological Footprint. The concept of Ecological Footprint can
be used to estimate the resource use for individuals, as well as for nations. Due to an increase in welfare, and an
increase in the world population, there has been a steady increase in the amount of resources used by the global
population.
The goals of this assignment are:
1. To determine your ecological footprint, and compare this to different scenarios (different country and
different diet);
2. To interpret figures;
3. To make your own figures and/or tables based on a large dataset.
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Part I: Comparing Ecological Footprints among countries and diets (20%)
You will be using an online tool to calculate the Ecological Footprint of your consumption pattern in different
countries. Go to http://www.footprintcalculator.org/ in order to calculate your footprint.
Step 1: Calculate your current Ecological Footprint.
Step 2: Fill in your results in the digital answer sheet provided to you. TO GET THE NUMBERS CLICK ON
GET DETAILS: THIS WILL GIVE YOU A PIE DIAGRAM (hover over the segment in the chart to get
the number of gHa).
Step 3: Answer the following questions on the answer sheet (4 points per answer):
1. Explain why a vegetarian diet has a lower ecological footprint compared to a diet in which meat is
consumed 5-6 times a week. Explain using the concept of energy-flow in food webs.
2. If you calculate your ecological footprint in three different countries (e.g. the Netherlands, USA and
Thailand), and use the exact same numbers (e.g. same diet, same amount of traveling etc.), you will get
differences in ecological footprints. How is this possible?
3. Why do we use the term ecological footprint when studying human impacts, and why not simply
determine the carrying capacity of a certain region?
4. Earth has a carrying capacity; explain what happens if we, as humanity, exceed the carrying capacity of
Earth. Make sure to differentiate between short-term and long-term impacts.
Don’t speculate in your answers. You should use either the readings from class or peer reviewed readings found
through the Leiden Catalogue to answer these questions. You must provide in-text references for any sources
cited in your answer (these count towards the word limit), and you must provide a reference list at the end. (4
points)
To get your started and to help you answer the questions above, you can make reference to the following
information:
 Methodological background information on the calculations can be found on the following website:
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/methodology
 Borucke, M., Moore, D., Cranston, G., Gracey, K., Iha, K., Larson, J., Lazarus, E., Carlos Morales, J.,
Wackernagel, M., Galli, A., 2013. Accounting for demand and supply of the biosphere’s regenerative
capacity: The National Footprint Accounts’ underlying methodology and framework. Ecological Indicators
24, 518–533. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X12002968
The chapters from the forthcoming GC: Sustainability Textbook can be referenced using the following format:
Authors. Title of chapter. In: P.Behrens, T. Bosker, and D.E. Ehrhardt (Eds). Food sustainability,

Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Forthcoming.
Example:
Bosker, T., P. Behrens and D.E. Ehrhardt. Humanity and food production. In: P.Behrens, T. Bosker, and D.E.
Ehrhardt (Eds). Food sustainability, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Forthcoming.
2
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Part II: Ecological Deficit and Reserve (30%)
The global footprint network calculates the Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity for most of the countries across
the world. This allows you to compare the Ecological Footprint relative to Biocapacity of specific countries. The
results will either be a deficit (i.e. the country will use more resources than available), or a reserve (the country
uses less recourses than available)
Below you will find the Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity figures of three countries: Australia (Fig. 1),
Republic of Korea (Fig. 2) and China (Fig. 3). Answer the following with regards to the three graphs:
1. Fill in the six tables on the answer sheet indicating relative resource use and the absolute use of natural
resources in 1961 and 2014 for each country (expressed in total gha/country). (15 points)
2. Answer the following questions (refer to tables where needed)
a. How is it possible that the relative biocapacity (gHa/capita) is decreasing in all countries, while
the absolute biocapacity (gHa/country) is increasing or remains equal? (9 points)
b. Which country has the biggest impact on the environment, and why? (3 points)
c. The citizens of which country need to change their consumption pattern most to be more
sustainable? Why is this? (3 points)
You will need to answer these questions on the answer sheet.
4
Fig. 1: The Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity for Australia between 1961 and 2014
Fig. 2: The Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity for the Republic of Korea between 1961 and 2014
5
Fig. 3: The Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity for China between 1961 and 2014
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Part III: Summarizing a large data set (50%)
You are asked to chair a session of the UN on Ecological Footprints. In preparation, you want to provide your
fellow committee members with a document which highlights trends and differences in Ecological Footprints
among nations/regions. To do this, you have access to a large dataset, collected by the footprint network
(www.footprintnetwork.org). In this document, the global footprint of most nations is published, which allows
you to make this comparison.
The data can be found by following this link:

http://www.footprintnetwork.org/images/uploads/NFA_2010_Results.xls
Using this file, you have to prepare two summary tables/figures which highlight:
1. Ecological Footprints for different nations/regions (gha/capita)
2. Ecological Deficit or Reserve for these nations/regions (gha/capita)
3. Absolute Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity for these nations/regions (expressed in million
gha/nation).
This means you have to choose nations/regions for comparison, condense the data (which requires you to
critically examine the dataset), and decide how you are going to summarize the data. What will you present? And
in which detail? You will have to justify why you decided to summarize the data in a specific way. This has to
follow a logical train of thought.
At the end of the answer sheet provided, insert the two tables/figures (i.e., 2 tables, 2 figures or 1 table and 1
figure). Use the EES writing guide when making your figures and tables.
You must also do the following:

 Make sure that the tables/figures have a clear header or caption
 Make sure that the axes are clearly labelled
 Make sure that the tables/figures and text are clearly legible
Next, on the answer sheet:

1. Explain why you have chosen to summarize the data in this way, and clearly explain the logic behind
your choice (15 points)
2. Summarize the main information presented in your figures/tables: what does it tell the members of the
Commission regarding the issue at stake. Refer to the figures/tables you have made in your answer (10
points)
3. Provide the figures/tables at the end of the document (25 points)

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ASSIGNMENT 1: Ecological Footprint

STAY WITHIN WORD LIMITS!

The goals of this assignment are:

Step 1: Calculate your current Ecological Footprint.

Authors. Title of chapter. In: P.Behrens, T. Bosker, and D.E. Ehrhardt (Eds). Food sustainability,

You will need to answer these questions on the answer sheet.

The data can be found by following this link:

You must also do the following:

Next, on the answer sheet:

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