Earth Overshoot Day: A Serious Concern

Earth Overshoot Day is a day when we, the humans have used more from the nature than our planet can renew in the entire year. With increasing use of natural resources, deforestation, global warming; this day is arriving sooner every year.

If we go through the data of past years then there was a time when it used to occur in the month of October but as of now last year it was in August. This means that the resources are getting depreciated and deteriorated at such a high speed.

If we see the data, then currently we are using up nature's resources 1.8 times faster than the planet's ecosystem can regenerate them. Earth Overshoot Day is calculated by Global Footprint Network, which is an international research organization. This organization observes the total use of natural resources and the harmful effects of it.

Mathis Wackernagel, head of this organization stated that " Our economies are running a Ponzi scheme with our planet. We are using the Earth's future resources for present use and by doing so we are digging ourselves deeper into ecological debt". It's high time we should start working on this situation to avoid self-destruction. This group also runs a campaign "MoveTheDate" where various solutions are explored through four main areas of food, cities, population and energy.

History:

The concept was first conceived by Andrew Simms of the Think tank "New Economics Foundation". This partnered with Global Footprint Network in 2006 and they launched the first global Earth Overshoot Day.

Calculation of Earth Overshoot Day:

It is calculated by dividing the planet's biocapacity (the amount of resources Earth is able to generate that year), by (humanity's demand for that year), and multiplying by 365, which is the number of days in a year.

(Planet's biocapacity/Humanity's Footprint)×365= Earth Overshoot Day.

Conclusion:

We need to think really hard what massive changes we can bring to change our consumption pattern. Earth Overshoot Day shows very clearly that we are making excessive use of everything. So we need to introduce three changes

1. A new and detailed understanding of growth.

2. A circular economy and

3. A consequent move to renewable energy.

These three changes have to be made for sustainable development and for our future generations as well.