Editing Human ecology (section)

==Ecological footprint==
{{Main|Ecological footprint}}

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While we are used to thinking of cities as geographically discrete places, most of the land "occupied" by their residents lies far beyond their borders. The total area of land required to sustain an urban region (its "ecological footprint") is typically at least an order of magnitude greater than that contained within municipal boundaries or the associated built-up area.<ref name="Rees92" />{{Rp|121}}
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In 1992, [[William E. Rees (academic)|William Rees]] developed the [[ecological footprint]] concept. The ecological footprint and its close analog the [[water footprint]] has become a popular way of accounting for the level of impact that human society is imparting on the Earth's ecosystems.<ref name="Rees92">{{Cite journal |last = Rees |first = W. E. |title = Ecological footprints and appropriated carrying capacity: what urban economics leaves out |journal = Environment and Urbanization |volume = 4 |issue = 2 |pages=121–130 |date = 1992 |doi = 10.1177/095624789200400212 |bibcode = 1992EnUrb...4..121R |doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="Hoekstra09">{{cite journal | last=Hoekstra | first=A. | title=Human appropriation of natural capital: A comparison of ecological footprint and water footprint analysis | journal=Ecological Economics | volume=68 | issue=7 | pages=1963–1974 | date=2009 | doi=10.1016/j.ecolecon.2008.06.021 | bibcode=2009EcoEc..68.1963H | url=http://www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Hoekstra2008-Ecological-versus-WaterFootprint.pdf | access-date=2011-06-20 | archive-date=2013-04-06 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406200047/http://www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Hoekstra2008-Ecological-versus-WaterFootprint.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref> All indications are that the human enterprise is unsustainable as the footprint of society is placing too much stress on the ecology of the planet.<ref name="Moran08" /> The [[World Wildlife Fund|WWF]] 2008 living planet report and other researchers report that human civilization has exceeded the bio-regenerative capacity of the planet.<ref name="Moran08">{{Cite journal |last1 = Moran |first1 = D. D. |title = Measuring sustainable development — Nation by nation |journal = Ecological Economics |volume = 64 |pages = 470–474 |date = 2008 |url = http://www.rshanthini.com/tmp/CP551/M02R02_MeasuringSDwithHDIandEF.pdf |doi = 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2007.08.017 |display-authors = 2 |last2 = Kitzes |first2 = Justin A. |last3 = Goldfinger |first3 = Steven H. |last4 = Boutaud |first4 = Aurélien |issue = 3 |bibcode = 2008EcoEc..64..470M |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110715205656/http://www.rshanthini.com/tmp/CP551/M02R02_MeasuringSDwithHDIandEF.pdf |archive-date = 2011-07-15 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://assets.panda.org/downloads/living_planet_report_2008.pdf |title=Living Planet Report 2008|publisher=Worldwide Wildlife Fun|access-date=4 February 2010}}</ref> This means that the footprint of human consumption is extracting more natural resources than can be replenished by ecosystems around the world.