Inconvenient Facts

First, check this graph:

Preceding my viewing of Al Gore’s must-see “traveling global warming show” An Inconvenient Truth (which just premiered in The Netherlands), I just now read a few online publications by the Global Footprint Network (GFN). The GFN is (and I quote) “a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the scientific rigor and practical application of the Ecological Footprint, a tool that quantifies human demand on nature, and nature’s capacity to meet these demands“.

You’ve really got to read it for yourself, but the graph which I’ve included on top (derived from Europe 2005: The Ecological Footprint) opened my eyes. The graph basically tells us that in 2001 the US and Europe needed far more land to produce food, absorb waste and provide infrastructure than directly available to them and far more than the rest of the world.

The report furthermore shows that the European Union uses 20 per cent of what the world’s ecosystems provide in terms of fibres, food, energy, and waste absorption. Yet Europe is home to only 7 per cent of the world population. And I’m not even mentioning the good ol’ US of A. Of course this has only worsened in the past six years. And if that didn’t shock me enough, my personal result of the Earthday Footprint Quiz speaks for itself:

IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 4.8 GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON. WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 1.8 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.

IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 4.1 PLANETS.

I’m not alone. It probably makes sense to go see that movie and see what Gore thinks we ought to do about it.