An ecological footprint compares the total natural resources people consume with the land and water area that is required to replace these resources.
The ecological footprint works like an accounting balance sheet. On the minus side are the resource consuming activities like energy usage, logging, farming, fishing, etc. On the plus side is Earth’s bio capacity – its ability to replace these resources and absorb the waste.
The ecological footprint measures the demands humans place on Nature. It includes estimates of the sea and forest-covered land areas needed to absorb greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. The more the greenhouse gases, the more the water and forest area required for absorbing them.
Thus a large carbon footprint would mean a larger ecological footprint. In short, the ecological footprint tells us how much of Earth is required to support human life if a particular lifestyle is followed.
Since the mid-1980s, humans have been consistently, leaving a larger ecological footprint. For example, for 2007 humanity’s ecological footprint was estimated at 1.5 Earths.
It means that humans consumed resources 1.5 times faster than Earth can reproduce them, the deficit was made up by drawing up on stored resources like fossil fuels which Earth does not replenish every year. The UN estimates that if current trends continue, by the mid-2030s we will need two Earths to sustain ourselves!
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