Bigfoot
After the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, a study was performed by Redefining Progress, an environmental policy think-tank, to track the sustainability of human beings' need for resources vs. their availability. For each nation, the biologically productive areas necessary to provide their resource supplies were calculated, and termed "ecological footprints" of these countries (Note: This report was presented in 1997. I expect the situation to have worsened by now)
The "Footprints of Nations" report compares the ecological impact of 52 large nations, inhabited by 80 percent of the world population. It also shows to what extent their consumption can be supported by their local ecological capacity. One key finding is that today, humanity as a whole uses over one third more resources and eco-services than what nature can regenerate. In 1992, this ecological deficit was only one quarter [Link].The report is available here: [Link]. Each country's individual footprint can be found here. Iceland and New Zealand, due to their large natural resources and low populations, had the largest per-capita ecological surplus (14.3 and 13.6 hectare per capita respectively). Singapore and Hong Kong, with negligible resources, had the highest per-capita deficit (-7.1 and -6.1 ha/cap respectively). On an absolute scale, America had the largest ecological footprint (27M km2), though China and India were catching up (15M and 7.7M km2 respectively). The Russian federation stood in third position with 8.7M km2 in 1997 - by now, I believe India must have caught up.
Earth Day network has an online quiz that makes this more personal. Based upon the country you live in, and your individual lifestyle and living environment, they compute your very own ecological footprint. Being a single person with a jetsetting lifestyle (100+ hours flight time, no carpooling, 100% processed meals, high-rise living), I am ashamed to say that I am consuming 7.5 times my share of Mother Earth's love. Food for thought: If I moved to India and lived with my joint family, I would be consuming 1.0 times my "entitlement".
Check your own score here: http://myfootprint.org/
