An ecological footprint measures the biologically productive land and water required to supply a population's resources and absorb its wastes using current technology. It is calculated by converting different forms of consumption into equivalent areas and adding them together, usually in global hectares (gha).
This is core SL and HL content in 1.3 Sustainability. A global hectare represents one hectare with world-average biological productivity, allowing different countries, lifestyles, and resource demands to be compared.
How Is It Calculated?
For a population, consumption is first estimated using:
