EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -United States The U.S. has an ecological footprint of 8.04 gha per capita, one of the highest in the world, with a biocapacity per capita of only 3.45 hectares. This leads to a total ecological deficit of-1.49 billion hectares, a biocapacity reserve of-4.59 gha per capita.

Detailed explanation-2: -Biocapacity is therefore the ecosystems’ capacity to produce biological materials used by people and to absorb waste material generated by humans, under current management schemes and extraction technologies.

Detailed explanation-3: -In summary, the U.S. Ecological Footprint is larger than that of other countries because per capita consumption of energy and a wide range of goods of all kinds is greater. Wastes, including carbon dioxide, are greater as well, adding to the relative size of the footprint.

Detailed explanation-4: -The average Indian has an ecological footprint of 0.9 gha/pc. The global footprint is 2.7 global hectares per capita.