https://www.independent.co.uk/environmen...25126.html
Humans have exhausted all natural resources the planet can sustainably supply for 2019 faster than ever – overshooting by more than five months.
As we consume and destroy more than ever before, the Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) keeps getting earlier. It was marked on 2 August in 2017, 1 August in 2018 and this year it is on 29 July – two months earlier than it was 20 years ago.
Due to increased consumption and a growing population we are now using up nature’s resources 1.75 times faster than the planet’s ecosystems can regenerate them.
The results of this ecological overspending is becoming increasingly evident in the form of deforestation, soil erosion, biodiversity loss and the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Mathis Wackernagel, co-inventor of Ecological Footprint accounting and founder of Global Footprint Network said: “We have only got one Earth – this is the ultimately defining context for human existence.”
Sad, but not surprising, given how quickly our population is rising, and how quickly the economy is improving in less well-off parts of the world. (Don't get me wrong: I'm glad people are being lifted out of poverty, but the flip side of that is that they'll consume more of the Earth's resources)
Of course, there are efforts in developed countries to curb our resource usage, but this makes me worry that it may not be enough ...
Humans have exhausted all natural resources the planet can sustainably supply for 2019 faster than ever – overshooting by more than five months.
As we consume and destroy more than ever before, the Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) keeps getting earlier. It was marked on 2 August in 2017, 1 August in 2018 and this year it is on 29 July – two months earlier than it was 20 years ago.
Due to increased consumption and a growing population we are now using up nature’s resources 1.75 times faster than the planet’s ecosystems can regenerate them.
The results of this ecological overspending is becoming increasingly evident in the form of deforestation, soil erosion, biodiversity loss and the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Mathis Wackernagel, co-inventor of Ecological Footprint accounting and founder of Global Footprint Network said: “We have only got one Earth – this is the ultimately defining context for human existence.”
Sad, but not surprising, given how quickly our population is rising, and how quickly the economy is improving in less well-off parts of the world. (Don't get me wrong: I'm glad people are being lifted out of poverty, but the flip side of that is that they'll consume more of the Earth's resources)
Of course, there are efforts in developed countries to curb our resource usage, but this makes me worry that it may not be enough ...
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