Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumEarth's resources consumed in ever greater destructive volumes
Source: The Guardian
Earth's resources consumed in ever greater destructive volumes
Study says the date by which we consume a years worth of resources is arriving faster
Jonathan Watts
Mon 23 Jul 2018 00.01 BST
Humanity is devouring our planets resources in increasingly destructive volumes, according to a new study that reveals we have consumed a years worth of carbon, food, water, fibre, land and timber in a record 212 days.
As a result, the Earth Overshoot Day which marks the point at which consumption exceeds the capacity of nature to regenerate has moved forward two days to 1 August, the earliest date ever recorded.
To maintain our current appetite for resources, we would need the equivalent of 1.7 Earths, according to Global Footprint Network, an international research organisation that makes an annual assessment of how far humankind is falling into ecological debt.
The overshoot began in the 1970s, when rising populations and increasing average demands pushed consumption beyond a sustainable level. Since then, the day at which humanity has busted its annual planetary budget has moved forward.
Thirty years ago, the overshoot was on 15 October. Twenty years ago, 30 September. Ten years ago, 15 August. There was a brief slowdown, but the pace has picked back up in the past two years. On current trends, next year could mark the first time, the planets budget is busted in July.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/23/earths-resources-consumed-in-ever-greater-destructive-volumes
efhmc
(14,725 posts)is being destroyed by our DJT and friends.
Bayard
(22,035 posts)Depressing and scary.....
hunter
(38,309 posts)... is a direct measure of the damage we are doing to what's left of the earth's natural environment and our own human spirit.