1 | Ecological Footprints 

Ecological footprint: the total area of healthy land and water ecosystems needed to provide the resources you use (shown in the number of earths it would take to support human life if everyone lived like you)

There is no universal formula for calulating ecological footprint but we can still make useful comparisons among foodprints in different countries. To find out a countries ecological footprint, calculate the footprint of a typical citizen and multiply that by the size of a population.

The great Acceleration occured when human activity using earth resources went up. Meaning that we burned more fossil fuels, farmed more land enriched with fertilizers, and we caught more fish so we could feed more people. Medical discoveries had saved lives of millions and death rates fell worldwide. Birthrates had continues to stay high so the global population gre rapidly. Technology had also been advancing which multiplies our impacts on local and global systems.

Human activity drived global change more than ever. In fact we move more sediment and rock every year than is moved by erosion and the worlds rivers. We altered about 3/4 of the world and we fix and distribute vast quantities of nitrogen for fertilizer which disrupts the nitrogen cycle. We have increased the amount of greenhouse gas levels to a higher concentration on the planet than we have seen ever before.

Anthromes are globally significant ecological patterns created by long-term interactions between humans and ecosystems. This also means that in the Anthromes there isn’t much untouched nature left. Some exmaples of anthromes include cities, villages, croplands and rangelands.