ES Unit 1 Ecological Footprints

Transportation

After trees are cut down they need to be transported to the end user which is also a carbon intensive process (most use fossil fuels) increasing the overall carbon footprint of timber

Sustainability

Basic idea that there are always trees available to be used

Pollution

Trees absorb CO2 the destruction of trees therefore releases trapped carbon dioxide into the air which increases the greenhouse effect. The transportation of Timber also contributes to pollution around the world.

Deforestation

Trees being cut down faster than they can grow. Deforestation leads to soil erosion causing landslides and amplifying the greenhouse effect.

Habitat Destruction and Loss

When forests are destroyed, animals lose their habitat and they have no where else to go this endangers them and could lead to the extinction of certain species

Wastage

When timber is being collected there are a lot of waste products like branches and leaves these are usually left to rot or are burned. As time goes on and timber becomes more scarce it is much more important that we try to use these waste materials e.g. using branches to make Manufactured Boards. NOTE: MB are on toxic wood list.

natural resource

a material that humans take from the environment to survive, to satisfy their needs, or to trade with others

human footprint

an single person's lifetime use of natural resources

green

environmentally safe and sustainable

environmental degradation

exceeding a renewable resources's natural replacement rate

nonrenewable resource

exist in a fixed quantity within the Earth's crust and takes millions of years to renew

recycling

involves the collecting of waste materials and processing them into new materials

per capita ecological footprint

is the average ecological footprint of an individual in a given country or area

conservation

is the management of natural resources with the goal of minimizing resource waste and sustaining supplies for current and future generations

reuse

is using a resource over and over in the same form.

renewable resource

replenished rather quickly within minutes to decades through natural processes as long as it is not used up faster than renewed

ecological footprint

the amount of biologically productive land and water needed to supply the people in a particular country or area with renewable resources and to absorb and recycle the wastes and pollution produced by resource use

carbon footprint

the measurable total impact on one or more people on the environment

recycle

to clean or process in order to make suitable for reuse

water footprint

total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual or community

energy consumption

use of power, usually produced by humans in plants run on electricity, fossil fuels, or nuclear fission