Canada: 1b. Pre-Conference- Interactive Simulations

Environment   Sep 9, 2017 by Julia Chung

1. Ecological Footprint Calculator

The part of the footprint calculator that surprised me the most was that if everyone lived like me, we would need 4.3 Earths to survive. Especially the food category had already covered 2.2 gha of my ecological footprint. The site tells me that my ecological footprint is about 7.4 gha. Edmonton’s (city that I’m current residing in) ecological footprint was measured to be 7.67 gha per capita in 2012, with a difference of 0.27 gha from mine. South Korea’s (I’m originally from there) ecological footprint was measured to be 5.7 gha in 2012, with a difference of 1.7 gha from mine. Though Edmonton is a city and South Korea is a country, Edmonton has a much higher rate of ecological footprints, possibly because of the difference between lifestyles. While calculating my footprint, the first thing I thought was that I definitely needed to reduce the consumption of meat, especially beef. I can do this by decreasing meat consumption and increase the consumption of plants, such as vegetables. The amount of methane produced by the cows are enormous. About 70kg ~ 120kg of methane is produced per year just by the cows. Therefore, less consumption of beef (or really any kind of protein) would lower the ecological footprint. However, the amount of methane would still remain the same if only I made the difference. Everyone has to do it consistently. Reading the article posted in the link, the quote, “It's part of a larger narrative of trying to create villains; to draw lines between producers as responsible for the problem and everyone else as victims. Frankly, we're all the users and therefore we're all guilty. To create a narrative that involves corporate guilt as opposed to problem-solving is not going to solve anything." by David Victor made me nod as well. So how can an individual really make a difference? Possibly, the usage of social media such as Twitter and Facebook might help. When an individual posts their action that improves climate change, and to get others to participate in the action, gradually, change would arrive. Effective usage of hashtags is also a good idea.

2. Climate Challenge

Technological issues wouldn’t enable me to access to the simulation. The link to the WebWise Flash install guide ends up as Error 404: Not Found.

3. Water Footprint Calculator

My footprint is estimated to be roughly around 751 cubic metres a year, while the world’s average is roughly around 1243 cubic metres a year. My consumption of cereal and meat is high, with the consumption of dairy, vegetables, and fruits as very low, not even reaching 40 cubic metres for each. Just like I mentioned in question 1, I really need to decrease my consumption of meat- however, the consumption of fruits and vegetables can remain the same- or even higher, as they are a healthy choice. I wouldn’t say not much on dairy because of the methane produced by the cattle. 

According to UN, South Korea is listed as ‘little or no water scarcity’, contrary to many beliefs of Koreans. (Link: http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity.shtml ) However, South Korea suffers from serious drought, and especially in countrysides in summer, the usage of water is often limited. Farmers often have a hard time trying to water their crops only using the limited resource. Generally, water in South Korea is controlled by the government and national water companies. 

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