On Monday, mankind will have consumed all the resources that the planet can renew in a year, so we will live “on credit” until December 31st, according to calculations by the NGO Global Footprint Network.
August 8th marks the Earth’s “Overshoot Day”, said Global Footprint Network jointly with the WWF.
To make the calculation, Global Footprint Network considers the carbon footprint, resources consumed for fishing, livestock and agriculture, as well as construction and use of water.
In 2015, Earth’s Overshoot Day arrived on August, 13th.
The date arrives inevitably sooner since the 70s’,”
reminded the ONG.
In 1970, that day came on December, 23rd.
To meet our needs, now we need the equivalent of 1.6 planets per year,”
said the two organizations.
The cost of this overconsumption is already visible: water shortages, desertification, soil erosion, decline in agricultural productivity and fish stocks, deforestation, biodiversity loss,”
pointed the statement.
The organizations added that
Living on credit can only be provisional because nature is not a field from which we can draw resources indefinitely.”
CO2 emissions, the main greenhouse gas, are the most important overshoot factor, since they represent 60% of our global footprint according to the WWF, Global Footprint Network and the Annual Report on the State of the Climate, published by 450 scientists worldwide.