Globalization & Sustainability
Focus #1
What does sustainability mean?
Key Terms: ecological footprint, sustain, sustainability, stewardship, flag of convenience
What does sustainability mean?
Key Terms: ecological footprint, sustain, sustainability, stewardship, flag of convenience
People cannot live without having some effect on the environment. Everyone needs:
Scientists use the term ecological footprint to describe the load people impose on nature. Your ecological footprint represents the area of the earth's surface necessary to sustain the level of resources you use and the waste you create. The ecological footprint of an individual or group is a measure of how much biologically productive land and water resources are needed to keep them alive. Dividing the bioproductive area of Earth by the total population reveals that 1.89 hectares of productive area are available for each person.
- materials to make homes, clothing, tools, and so on
- fuel for heat and transportation, and to provide electricity
- food to stay healthy
- water for drinking, cooking, cleanliness, and health
Scientists use the term ecological footprint to describe the load people impose on nature. Your ecological footprint represents the area of the earth's surface necessary to sustain the level of resources you use and the waste you create. The ecological footprint of an individual or group is a measure of how much biologically productive land and water resources are needed to keep them alive. Dividing the bioproductive area of Earth by the total population reveals that 1.89 hectares of productive area are available for each person.
Earth's resources are not shared equally. Canadians, for example, have a much larger ecological footprint - 7.25 hectares per person - than people in most other countries.
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Global Perspectives on Ecological Footprints
The ecological footprint of 70 per cent of the world's people is smaller than the 1.89 hectares available for each person. But the remaining 30 per cent of the people take much more than their share - in fact, this remaining 30 per cent consume about 90 per cent of the world's ecological capacity. The bars below show the average ecological footprint by region. The width of each bar is in proportion to the size of the population of each region.
How big is a hectare?
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Focus #2
How are globalization and sustainability related?
How are globalization and sustainability related?
Transportation is an important globalizing force - and shipping is an important element of the globalized transportation systems that move goods and materials between suppliers, manufacturers, and buyers. Following the life cycle of a typical ship reveals one aspect of the relationship between globalization and sustainability.
Wood Harvesting
Clear-cutting
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Selective-cutting
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Where Ships are Built
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Ships and the Environment
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Disposing of Old Ships
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