A rchive Date
[ 31-10-2002 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Ecology ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWSScience0207/30_suzuki-can.html
Unwilling stewards of the planet
By DAVID SUZUKI -- CNEWS Science
Wednesday, October 30, 2002
You may have heard the metaphor about humanity's "footprint" on the earth. It's often referred to as our "ecological footprint," a term coined by University of British Columbia professor Bill Rees. He estimates that if everyone in the world lived like we do in North America, we would need the resources of four or five more planets. Recently, a group of scientists took this footprint idea and transferred it from an individual, to a global focus. Just how much of the earth is now directly under the influence of human beings?
Their findings are startling. Published in the October edition of the scientific journal Bioscience, researchers from Columbia University and the Wildlife Conservation Society found that 83 per cent of the earth's total land area is under humanity's direct influence. That number increases to 98 per cent when they looked at arable land - areas where agriculture is possible.
The researchers combined nine sets of data, including population density, road and waterway access, access to electrical power and the effects of land use, such as agriculture and urbanization, and presented the results as a map of the earth. Visually, their findings show the obvious - such as the concentration of human influence around cities. But they also show the less obvious - such as the influence of agriculture, road-building, logging, and oil and mineral extraction in less-populated areas.
Compared with most of the world, Canada is still an oasis of wilderness. Our massive boreal forests shine like a green halo across the North. Parts of Russia, the Amazon, and the desert areas of Northern Africa and Australia also have large areas of true wilderness remaining. However, the vast majority of the world is now clearly dominated by humanity. Predictably, the human footprint is heaviest in places such as Europe, India, parts of China, southern Ontario and the eastern United States.
What can we do with this information? Well, as the researchers point out, one use is that it helps us pinpoint the wildest places on Earth. Some of these areas could be conserved now with a minimum of conflict. The maps also show us some areas that are still wild, but being rapidly encroached upon by human activities. Many of these endangered areas contain high levels of biodiversity and are in dire need of protection.
Footprint maps certainly have their limitations. For example, they do not show the actual impact of human activity per se. They take the average effect that, for example, building a road has on a particular ecosystem and assign that average to all the roads in that region. A number of other factors may influence the road's actual impact on the environment that are not factored into the footprint. The footprint also does not measure the effect of longer-term, global phenomena such as climate change and pollution.
However, just because footprint analyses are not perfect does not mean they aren't useful. As general indicators of humanity's influence on the environment, they can be valuable tools for conservation. They can help pinpoint areas of concern and areas for study. They can also help educate us about just how powerful we have become as a species. As the researchers point out, we are now stewards of the planet, whether we like it or not. We are so influential that we cannot ignore the effects of our actions on the natural world around us - a world on which we depend for our survival and our quality of life.
Human activities aren't by necessity destructive. Right now, the way we use energy, many of our agricultural and forestry practices, and urban sprawl are taking their toll on nature, but it doesn't have to be this way. Government policy changes and collective action by groups of people have shown that when we focus our efforts, we can overcome environmental challenges. The map of the global human footprint should thus be seen as a blueprint for change and not a recipe for disaster.
Discuss this column at DavidSuzuki.org
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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