According to the Earth Policy Institute, the following 12 indicators represent significant measures of our progress, or the lack thereof, in building an eco-economy—one that respects the principles of ecology.
All 12 indicators and accompanying data can be found on the Institute's website at http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/index.htm.
1. Population
Although a social indicator, population is also a basic environmental indicator. During most of the past 4 million years, our existence as a species was precarious, our numbers small. Now we are so numerous and leave such a large ecological footprint that we threaten the existence of the millions of other species with whom we share the planet. When assessing the adequacy of basic resources such as land and water over time, population size is the universal denominator, always shrinking per capita availability as it expands.
See http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/indicator1.htm
2. Economic growth
Given the way the world now does business, the size of the economy is the best single measure of the mounting pressure on the earth's environment. It combines the effects of both population growth and rising individual consumption to give us a sense of how much the pressure is increasing.
See http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/indicator2.htm
3. World fish catch
Measures the productivity and health of the oceanic ecosystem that covers 70 percent of the earth's surface. The extent to which world demand for seafood is outrunning the sustainable yield of fisheries can be seen in shrinking fishery stocks, declining catches, and collapsing fisheries.
See http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/indicator3.htm
4. Forest cover
One of the best single indicators of changes in land use. Shrinking forest cover shows we are cutting more trees than we are planting. The shrinkage of forested area means not only that the forest's capacity to supply products is diminished, but also that its capacity to provide services, such as flood control, soil protection, and the purification of water, is also reduced.
See http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/indicator4.htm
5. Carbon emissions
As the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide changes, so does the earth's temperature. Thus carbon emissions tell us a lot about ourselves and our current habits and provide clues about the kind of world we will be leaving for future generations. Will we be leaving them a stable climate, or will it be a world of searing heat waves, more destructive storms, melting glaciers, and rising sea level—a world besieged by millions of rising-sea refugees?
See http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/indicator5.htm
6. Grain production
The best indicator of the adequacy of the food supply. On average, half of all the calories we consume come directly from grain and a large part of the remainder come from the indirect consumption of grain in the form of meat, milk, eggs, and farmed fish. Grain production is a useful indicator of growing food demand in that increased output reflects population growth and also rising affluence, with its associated rise in consumption of grain-fed livestock products.
See http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/indicator6.htm
7. Water scarcity
Water may be the most underrated resource issue the world is facing today. Because water was relatively abundant throughout most of our existence, we came to take it for granted. Now we see that water tables are falling in scores of countries. The data show that these individual countries and indeed the entire world soon will be facing "water shocks" as aquifers are depleted and the water supply is abruptly reduced.
See http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/indicator7.htm
8. Global temperature
Just as taking our own body temperature is one of the best measures of our health and well-being, so temperature is also a measure of how well we are taking care of the earth, the only planet known to support life. For the first time in human history, our actions are linked to changes in the global temperature. Who would have thought a generation ago that the thermometer might become the device with which we assessed the human prospect?
See http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/indicator8.htm
9. Ice melting
One of the most sensitive and one of the most visible effects of rising temperature. There are many other indicators of rising temperatures, such as forests beginning to migrate, tropical diseases moving into higher latitudes, or tree lines moving upward on mountains, but none are quite so visible and perhaps disturbing as the melting of glaciers and ice sheets. Since so much of the world's water is stored in ice on land, its melting raises sea level, directly influencing the human prospect.
See http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/indicator9.htm
10. Wind electric-generating capacity
Advances in wind turbine design have set the stage for wind power to become the foundation of the new energy economy. Because it is abundant, cheap, inexhaustible, and clean, wind energy is now growing by leaps and bounds. Examining the rate at which wind generating capacity is expanding compared with fossil fuels gives us a sense of how fast the eco-economy is unfolding.
See http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/indicator10.htm
11. Bicycle production
Annual sales of bicycles are more than double those of automobiles. Bicycle sales measure our ability to reduce traffic congestion, lower air pollution, increase mobility, and provide exercise—a counter to the obesity that is now engulfing urban populations everywhere.
See http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/indicator11.htm
12. Solar cell production
On the falling cost curve, solar cells are several years behind wind. Solar cell sales in 2001 of nearly 400 megawatts of generating capacity represent by far the largest annual sales to date, but still this is the equivalent of the output of only a single power plant. The promise lies in the future, where—as it continues to fall—the cost will cross a critical threshold where production will begin to jump. At least one major manufacturer is planning a doubling of production this year.
See http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/indicator12.htm
All 12 indicators are discussed in detail in The Earth Policy Reader, the Institute's new book. You can order a copy on the web at
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/index.htm or by phone at (1 202) 496-9290 x 13.
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