Every human activity, from farming to construction and even checking email, affects the environment. Scientists call it ‘ecological footprint’ and measure it in global hectares (gha) —land needed to provide resources for human activities and absorb their waste. The more resources a person or society consumes, the larger its ecological footprint. Among countries, China is well known as the biggest resource guzzler today. It consumes about twice as much as the US and four times more than India, but this is down to its huge population. The average Chinese is still a relative lightweight on the ‘global hectares per person’ scale that is topped by Luxembourg and Qatar.
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