Greenhouse debt is the measure to which an individual person, incorporated association, business enterprise, government instrumentality or / nd(per Neb., USA) geographic community exceeds its permitted greenhouse

footprint Footprints are the impressions or images left behind by a person walking or running. Hoofprints and pawprints are those left by animals with hooves or paws rather than feet, while "shoeprints" is the specific term for prints made by shoes. The ...

and contributes greenhouse gases that contribute to

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

and

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

. The concept makes no sense without a clear numerical value for the permitted greenhouse

. It is not clear what this value is. Friends of the Earth and similar organisations put forward the concept to define specifically the environmental harm caused by developed countries' past and present policies. Some governments, at least the Australian

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

leadership, have a tendency to accept such a line of reasoning.Hamilton, Clive.
We will all pay for Howard's hidden greenhouse debt
'', Crikey, Friday, 14 December 2007: . The greenhouse debt assessment thus forms an ecological footprint analysis, but can be used separately. Taken conjointly with a 'water debt'

analysis Analysis ( : analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (3 ...

and an ecological impact assessment, greenhouse debt analysis is basic to giving individuals, organisations, governments and communities an understanding of the effects they are having on Gaia,

life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

, and

. Ensuring that the greenhouse debt is zero is essential towards achieving

ecologically sustainable development Ecologically sustainable development is the environmental component of sustainable development. It can be achieved partially through the use of the precautionary principle; if there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack ...

or a sustainable retreat. Any greenhouse debt incurred will contribute to making life harder for future generations of humans and

non-human Non-human (also spelled nonhuman) is any entity displaying some, but not enough, human characteristics to be considered a human. The term has been used in a variety of contexts and may refer to objects that have been developed with human intelligen ...

lifeforms. There are three possible consequences that occur as a result of a greenhouse debt. #''

Mitigation Mitigation is the reduction of something harmful or the reduction of its harmful effects. It may refer to measures taken to reduce the harmful effects of hazards that remain ''in potentia'', or to manage harmful incidents that have already occur ...

:'' finding compensatory ways of reducing the greenhouse debt so its effects are neutralised #'' Adaptation:'' finding ways of adjusting to the resulting global warming or climate change #'' Suffering:'' having one's quality of life reduced as a result of the consequences

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenhouse Debt Climate change assessment and attribution Greenhouse gas emissions Sustainable development

See also

References