Ecological Footprint
As you read down through my ecological footprint summary, you can see that there is a huge problem with the amount of resources that I use. If everyone lived like me, there would be a need for six and a half planets to keep the system of our vast planet from shutting down. We all grew up with buzz words like acid rain, ozone layer, global warming, Exxon Valdez, Cheronobyl, and so on. We didn't have to learn about the environmental movement, we were born into it.The big reason why you should buy locally produced food is simple,trucks spew exhaust and trucks that travel further spew more exhaust. Favour products that are produced locally less distance means less pollutionIt's a matter of math that a reduced meat lifestyle has less impact on the environment. It takes 4 lbs of cereal grains to make 1 lb of chicken; eating meat is essentially an inefficient way of eating vegetable products. When we eat grains in this manner, much more has to be produced then we really need--that means more pesticid
All these pollutants are nasty but the gas we should probably be most concerned with is CO2, the main greenhouse gas. It's easy to appreciate the need for land to grow trees, grains and other foods,and to graze animals. Burning fossil fuels in power plants, vehicles and factories releases theirstored carbon as CO2. Along with being the source of 30% of human CO2 emissions, transportation accounts for blistering amounts of our other emissions. 18 And the trends are leading the wrong way - air transport and automobile use are up while the use of public transportation is down. Yet, the Earth's population grows by nearly 100 million people each year. You can do something! And we are not going to suggest you live under a rock and stop breathing. And all over the planet ,productive ecosystems and farms are being converted into subdivisions, parking lots, industrial parks, shopping malls and highways - all ecological wastelands. This is not meant to encourage flying but to highlight how fuel inefficient a single occupancy automobile is. es, more water wasted, more transportation, etc. Human activities such as eating, traveling, heating homes, and purchasing consumer items all contribute to ecological footprints. More than half, or about six acres per North American, is necessaryto absorb the carbon dioxide released by our fossil fuel consumption, assumingthat atmospheric stability (to minimize climate change) is our goal. If population and consumption keep growing as expected, by the middle of the21st century we will need six to twelve more planets as large and as bountifulas this one in order to prevent rapid deterioration of the environment. It's true that a lot of beef cattle just range on grass but there are still the issues of methane (one of the most potent greenhouse gases) from livestock, antibiotics in our food, soil erosion, and the treatment of animals An "Ecological Footprint" is a measure of the "load" imposed on the natural environment by a given population and represents the land area necessary to sustain current levels of resource consumption and waste discharge by the population. If we first recognize our connections to the land, and then how much land thoseconnections require, we might actually be able to create a more sustainable future.
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Acceptance Essays
