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What is your country's ecological footprint - and what is your own?

Relaxnews
Wednesday 13 October 2010 00:00 BST
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(AFP PHOTO / Evaristo SA)

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Following the October 13 release of the Living Planet Report by environmental organization WWF, a new interactive graph showing the ecological footprints of different countries is now available on the internet.

Those concerned about the ecological footprint of where they live can visit the website of the Global Footprint Network, search by country and see how where they live compares to other areas around the globe.

The report's findings, based on 'per-person' data, show the differences in countries' impacts on the Earth's eco-systems.

The top ten countries with the biggest per-person ecological footprint are; the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Denmark, Belgium, the United States, Estonia, Canada, Australia, Kuwait and Ireland.

However some countries with the lowest ecological footprint, those producing the least carbon, using the least timber or with the least built-up land, such as Afghanistan, do not have a big enough ecological footprint to meet basic humanitarian needs such as shelter.

Personal ecological footprints, a measure of your overall environmental impact, can be calculated online at myfootprint.org and footprintnetwork.org. Carbon footprints, the amount of carbon you are either directly or indirectly responsible for releasing into the atmosphere, can be calculated at carbonfootprint.com , and green.Yahoo and other sites.  

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