August 13 is the Earth Overshoot Day for 2015, the day when Humans use p all the resources that mother Earth has to offer for a year. From now on, whatever natural resources humans use for the rest of the year would be stressing the limits of resources that Earth can produce.
The Earth Overshoot Day last year was on August 19, which means this year humans have been extra vigilant in using up earth’s resources.
These are the facts that have emerged from a study conducted by Tetra Pak and Global Footprint Network.
The analysis made on the basis of the demands that the world’s population are placing on the planet, humans have exhausted a 2015’s supply of natural resources in less than eight months. Carbon sequestration makes up more than half of that demand, according to Global Footprint Network.
The study was conducted base on a survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers who make decisions about groceries. Over 40 % of the respondents surveyed said that they were very aware of the issue of resource constraints.
The Earth’s “overshoot day”, a term coined to indicate the point at which humanity goes into ecological debt is six days earlier this year.
Comparison of the global human demands based on parameters of carbon emissions, cropland, fish stocks, and the use of forests for timber with the planet’s ability to regenerate such resources and naturally absorb the carbon emitted is the basis for the calculation of the “overshot day”.
For environmentalists this Earth Overshoot Day signifies that every year humans are putting additional pressure on nature which is causing more permanent harm that cannot be easily undone.
The trend of humans, according to Global Footprint Network, beginning to use up more of the natural resources in a year than the earth could regenerate and which exceeded earth’s capacity began in the early 1970s and the overshoot day has been falling steadily earlier ever since. This has been attributed to the growing population of the earth and the expansion of consumption around the world.
“The big problem is not that our deficit is getting bigger, it is that it cannot be maintained in the long-run. Even though we are in a deficit equation we are not taking measures to take us in the right direction. The problem is psychological – somehow we are missing this basic physical law. It is obvious to children, but for 98% of economic planners it is a minor risk not worth our attention. In the end the question is – does it matter to the government?” Mathis Wackernagel, president of the GFN said in an interview to the media.
At the present rate of consumption, which is 1.6 times the planet’s resources in a year, the Global Footprint Network estimates that the figure would reach 2.0 time the earth’s resource production capacity in a year by 2030.
Researchers at the Global Footprint Network said that the impact of this over consumption of the planet’s resources is evident through deforestation, soil erosion, depletion of water resources and the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
(Source: www.theguardian.com & www.prnewswire.com)
The Earth Overshoot Day last year was on August 19, which means this year humans have been extra vigilant in using up earth’s resources.
These are the facts that have emerged from a study conducted by Tetra Pak and Global Footprint Network.
The analysis made on the basis of the demands that the world’s population are placing on the planet, humans have exhausted a 2015’s supply of natural resources in less than eight months. Carbon sequestration makes up more than half of that demand, according to Global Footprint Network.
The study was conducted base on a survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers who make decisions about groceries. Over 40 % of the respondents surveyed said that they were very aware of the issue of resource constraints.
The Earth’s “overshoot day”, a term coined to indicate the point at which humanity goes into ecological debt is six days earlier this year.
Comparison of the global human demands based on parameters of carbon emissions, cropland, fish stocks, and the use of forests for timber with the planet’s ability to regenerate such resources and naturally absorb the carbon emitted is the basis for the calculation of the “overshot day”.
For environmentalists this Earth Overshoot Day signifies that every year humans are putting additional pressure on nature which is causing more permanent harm that cannot be easily undone.
The trend of humans, according to Global Footprint Network, beginning to use up more of the natural resources in a year than the earth could regenerate and which exceeded earth’s capacity began in the early 1970s and the overshoot day has been falling steadily earlier ever since. This has been attributed to the growing population of the earth and the expansion of consumption around the world.
“The big problem is not that our deficit is getting bigger, it is that it cannot be maintained in the long-run. Even though we are in a deficit equation we are not taking measures to take us in the right direction. The problem is psychological – somehow we are missing this basic physical law. It is obvious to children, but for 98% of economic planners it is a minor risk not worth our attention. In the end the question is – does it matter to the government?” Mathis Wackernagel, president of the GFN said in an interview to the media.
At the present rate of consumption, which is 1.6 times the planet’s resources in a year, the Global Footprint Network estimates that the figure would reach 2.0 time the earth’s resource production capacity in a year by 2030.
Researchers at the Global Footprint Network said that the impact of this over consumption of the planet’s resources is evident through deforestation, soil erosion, depletion of water resources and the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
(Source: www.theguardian.com & www.prnewswire.com)