Earth overshoot day

Humans have used up a full year’s worth of Earth’s ecological resources in just over seven months, its fastest rate ever, according to an annual environmental report. “Earth overshoot day”, marks the date at which humanity’s demand on the planet exceeds that which it can regenerate in a year. This year it will fall on Monday 8 August, its earliest date yet. The remainder of the year corresponds to global overshoot. In 1993, Earth overshoot day fell on October 21. In 2003 it fell on September 22 and last year on August 13.

Earth overshoot day is calculated by the international think tank Global Footprint Network, which measures the world’s demand for resources against ecosystems’ ability to supply them. The organisation uses United Nations data on thousands of economic sectors, including the energy industry, transport, fisheries and forestry, and calculates the number of days of the year the earth is able to provide resources for humanity’s ecological footprint.

Pascal Canfin, head of the French section of WWF, explained, “From Monday August 8, we will be living on credit because in eight months we would have consumed the natural capital that our planet can renew in a year.” http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/year-supply-natural-resources-seven-months-earth-overshoot-day-a7177636.html

Greenhouse gas emissions are the largest and fastest-growing environmental impact, accounting for 60 per cent of humanity’s entire ecological footprint.