Earth Overshoot Day, the Day We Exhaust Nature's Resources, is Coming Sooner
The Ecological Footprint
The Ecological Footprint is a way to measure humanity's demand on nature. It tracks things like how much food we grow, how much water we use, and how much carbon dioxide we emit. The Footprint is calculated by dividing humanity's demand on nature by the amount of land and water available to meet that demand.
The Ecological Footprint has been increasing steadily for the past 50 years. This means that we are using more and more of nature's resources each year. The Footprint is now 1.7 times larger than the Earth's capacity to regenerate. This means that we are using 1.7 Earths to meet our current demand on nature.
Earth Overshoot Day
Earth Overshoot Day is the day when humanity's demand on nature exceeds what the Earth can regenerate in a year. In 2019, Earth Overshoot Day landed on July 29. This means that we used up all of the Earth's resources for the year in just 7 months.
Earth Overshoot Day has been moving earlier and earlier each year. In 1970, Earth Overshoot Day landed on December 29. By 2019, it had moved up to July 29. This is a clear sign that we are using up nature's resources at an unsustainable rate.
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