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1h09' video, food for thought
May 6th, 2016
illustration

illustration (attribution, if any possible, is at the end of the article)

1h09' video, food for thought
by Edward Morbius:
William Reese: Ecological footprints and capital

The average ecological footprint of a human on Earth is 2 Hectares (ha).
The average ecological footprint of a Canadian is 8 ha.
The average ecological footprint of an American is 10 ha.

At 2 ha/person, we fill 100% of the Earth's land area.

At 8, 4 earths, at 10, 5 earths.

We're going to need to find a bigger planet. Or reduce footprint.


Reese also raises two other good points:

Humans show little sign of intelligence, forward planning, or compassion, at large scale. That's quite similar to my earlier observation that humans are anti-ants: individually smart, collectively idiots.

He raises the point of drawing down natural capital. This gets to a principle failing of economics: consistently under-pricing ecological inputs.