5 charts that show the ecological footprint of America
![These five data-driven charts help illustrate the disproportionate ecological footprint Americans have on our planet.](https://assets.weforum.org/article/image/large_nsD3U1KnbkCN_MF8hweFitGZpXlfHoEHE3zTaQRf4nk.jpg)
These five data-driven charts help illustrate the disproportionate ecological footprint Americans have on our planet. Image: REUTERS/Robert Galbraith
![A hand holding a looking glass by a lake](/uplink.jpg)
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:
Future of the Environment
The United States is the third most populous nation on Earth, with about 319 million inhabitants. So it's no surprise the country uses a lot of resources — and makes an incredible amount of waste.
Ecological footprint of America
Americans enjoy practically unlimited access to food, water, energy, and other resources that power a modern society. This makes US residents some of the most resource-intensive human beings on Earth.
The average person born in the US creates 13 times as much damage to the environment as someone born in Brazil, uses 35 times the resources of a typical person in India, and consumes about 53 times more products than people who live in China, according to Scientific American. Also, the lifestyle of Americans is second only to that of Canadians in generating the most greenhouse gases per person.
The following five data-driven charts, which Business Insider assembled for Earth Day, help illustrate the disproportionate ecological footprint Americans have on our planet.
![With a higher consumption pattern, Americans also leave behind a higher ecological footprint.](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/OH3-cWBjL6wRcX7RUmd-wQ6w87l3u5lKWeRKThKppqw.png)
![America ecological footprint carbon dioxide emissions](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/tdBtS2PO1JzHKI-w-0niuWqeovKLVSGnaRQJXYxHtxQ.png)
![America is among the highest electricity consumers in the world, and also responsible for a bigger ecological footprint.](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/fwuwQI9YegKuL3unk2r-FuE8oNoy7PcCmw01ehVvxmw.png)
![ecological footprint coal consumption America USA](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/z5MQVNlQm-9qWF6J_cfMXr44R5zUcbhqmvGWSUq4488.png)
![Energy use in each American state in comparison with other countries, highlights the high ecological footprint of the country.](https://assets.weforum.org/editor/H54bd0TjQhTzQB4xCq_qE3YsdRnM3fv3lP8DXVhJ6Yk.png)
Don't miss any update on this topic
Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.
License and Republishing
World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
Related topics:
The Agenda Weekly
A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.
More on Nature and BiodiversitySee all
Zhu Chunquan, Qian Wu and Susan Hu
July 15, 2024
Michelle Meineke
July 12, 2024
Victoria Masterson, Stephen Hall and Madeleine North
July 11, 2024
Yangjie (JoJo) Zheng and John Dutton
June 26, 2024
Tania Strauss and Sundararajan Mahalingam
June 26, 2024