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Global Resource Consumption - Coggle Diagram
Global Resource Consumption
Poverty Reduction
People living in extreme poverty has dramatically decreased over the years and has reached 12% in 2015.
Poverty reduction is linked with the growth of the global middle class due to an increase in
economic activity
and
global trade.
With the growth of the global middle class energy consumption has increased greatly. In the past 70 years, the increase in energy consumption rose from 28,516 TWh to 173,340 TWh.
Food consumption has increased massively, especially meat consumption.
The Asia Pacific region has seen the most decrease in people living in poverty. India and China are two countries that have experienced an economic boom. In 2013, China had reduced it's population living in poverty to 2%.
China's economic boom has lead to huge increase in meat consumption. China consumes 28% of the world's meat and half of all the pork.
The middle class spending (trillions of dollars) was $4.8 in the Asia Pacific region in 2010. In 2030, it is predicted to $32.6, more than half of the total worldwide spending in the global middle class.
Poverty reduction has massively led to an increase in ecological footprint. There's more traveling, bigger houses are being bought along with more TVs and other electronic devices.
The purchase of bigger houses means more bathrooms which results in an increase in water consumption.
Ecological Footprints
Ecological footprint is quite dependent on poverty reduction and those transitioning into a life in the global middle class.
Similar to an increase in meat consumption as a part of a change in lifestyle,
traveling
and
engaging in more activities
becomes a part of the daily life of someone living in the global middle class.
The increase in
meat consumption
means an increase in
transport
and shipping of meat. The pork that is consumed in China is mainly
imported
from the US. As China consumes more pork, more planes and ships keep going back and forth from China to the US resulting in a higher ecological footprint.
Living in the global middle class means bigger houses which require more heating and lighting.
More cars are being purchased which results in the use of more gas to power the cars.
Trends in Water
15,415 meter cubed of water is required per tonne of beef. Comparing this with vegetables, which is 322 meter cubed is almost 48 times more.
As there's
poverty reduction
which results in the
growth of the global middle class,
which results in a
change in diet
leaning more towards meat products, there is a massive
increase in water consumption
world wide
Consumption of water has increased most for the use in agriculture. In the 1950s, water consumption for agriculture was around 800 km cubed. In 2025, it is predicted to pass 2,000 km cubed.
Even though consumption regarding agriculture has increased,
withdrawal
has increased much more significantly. In the 1950s it was slightly over 1,000 km cubed. In 2025, it's predicted to be about 3,200 km cubed.
Water availability
has also
decreased
with an increase in water consumption. 1% of the world's water is usable.
Countries that have the majority of the water resources are South America and the Asia Pacific region. Even though these countries have the most water resources, the most water consumption isn't in these regions.
The majority of the water consumption is in North America along with Japan, Western Europe and India.
Only 50-60% of Sub-Saharan Africa's population has access to drinking water in 2015.
Land and Food Consumption
The daily per capita caloric supply in 2013 ranged from 2,000 - 4,000 for all countries.
In the 1960s, the lowest per capita caloric supply was 1,300 and the highest was a single country, Switzerland, with 3,500.
Global meat production
has increased massively since the 1960s. Asia saw the largest increase and is currently the largest producer of meat with 143.71 million tonnes in 2018.
Meat consumption requires a vast amount of water to be produces resulting in an increase in water consumption.
The meat consumption in China has increase by 2,364% from 1961 to 2011. The majority of the consumption is from pork with 147,227 tonnes in 2011.
The meat consumption in the world has increased by 325% from 1961 to 2011 with the most consumption in seafood with 392,217 tonnes in 2011.
Land consumption is increasing for both agriculture and meat production.
An increase in agriculture results in an increase in water consumption due to
irrigation
of the crop fields.
More land is being used for meat farms due to the increase in meat consumption. This land is being created by cutting down forests which is eliminating the natural sources that capture CO2.
There has been a massive increase in land used for grazing with 916.65 million hectares in the 1800s to 3.29 billion hectares in 2014.
The global agricultural land use is mainly used for cereals which is 721.40 million hectares in 2014. This is linked with the increase in food consumption and the growth of the global middle class. It is also linked with the cereal consumption in the US.
Due to poverty reduction and an increase in the global middle class, more buildings and infrastructure is being built to sustain the new lifestyle of those moving up to the global middle class.
Countries with the most food security are HICs, mainly in Europe with Finland ranking in number 1.
Energy Consumption
As the economy develops and people begin to live more expensive lives, their energy consumption also increases.
More cars mean more gas. Bigger houses require more energy to be produced.
There has been an increase in renewable energy over the years but not as much as other sources. Countries that use renewable energy as their primary source are Iceland with 79% and Norway with 66%. Majority of countries that are investing more into renewable energy sources are HICs.
The type of renewable energy that is most generated is hydropower with 4,222.21 TWh in 2019 followed by wind and solar energy. The total renewable energy generated in the world in 2019 was 7,027.73 TWh.
Sub-Saharan Africa's electricity comes mainly from renewable sources, between 80-99% depending on the countries in the region.
The majority of the world's electricity production from renewables is mainly between 0-40% in 2020.