A walk along the shore leaves footprints in the sand that disappear with the next high tide or big wave. Footprints in the sand are renewable, though; someone else will walk along the beach in the near future. Humanity's consumption of resources, however, leaves voids that are not so easily erased. Every act of consumption of non-renewable resources like oil, coal and gas leaves a void that helps define a carbon footprint.
Identification
The definition of carbon footprint proposed by Thomas Wiedmann and Jan Minx in their report published by the Centre for Sustainability Accounting is "a measure of the exclusive total amount of carbon dioxide emissions that is directly and indirectly caused by an activity or is accumulated over the life stages of a product."
Carbon
Carbon is one of the basic building blocks of plant and animal tissue, hence the term "carbon-based life forms." As prehistoric plants and animals died, they formed layer upon layer that compressed into humus, then mixed with fragmenting rocks to form soil and finally submerged beneath millions of years' worth of subsequent layers. The result of this process was a series of layers of soil, rocks, water and compressed carbon deposits that tell Earth's geological history, provide water and furnish oil, coal and gas--also called fossil fuels.
Greenhouse Gases
Carbon dioxide is one of a group of compounds that have been increasing in concentration in the atmosphere since the 18th century Industrial Revolution. It is the longest-lasting of compounds including methane and nitrous oxide that react to admit more infrared radiation from the sun to the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases, as these compounds are called, lead to the warming of the Earth, prompting the generation of more evaporation and water vapor which helps seal in heat.
The Footprint
Carbon dioxide emissions result from combustion. Internal combustion engines, furnaces and heating plants oxidize carbon to form heat, carbon dioxide and water. A family's carbon footprint is the sum of all of the emissions caused by all of the transportation and manufacturing processes for all of the food, clothing, furnishings and packaging that they consume in addition to their direct contributions of emissions by use of automobiles, recreational vehicles, household appliances and waste disposal services. Emissions are also caused by the production of products used to light, heat and cool their home and their consumption of energy. According to the Environmental Protection Agency's Household Emissions Calculator, each American produces a carbon dioxide equivalent of 20,750 lbs. every year.
Reducing Carbon Footprints
The Global Footprint Network identifies the carbon footprint as the most rapidly growing component in the overall ecological consumption of the planet's resources. As nations develop and population grows, the carbon footprint will expand to exceed the resources available and lifestyles will become unsustainable. Ways to reduce humanity's carbon footprint include less travel, recycling, shopping for local products and development of alternative fuels.
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