Congratulations, humanity, you used up all resources produced by Earth for the year

Written by Juleane Borres | Edited by Pollisa Tien-iam-arnan (Polly) | Designed by Marianna Realosa (Yanna), Sanisa Kongsiri (Kym)

August 22, 2020 is Earth Overshoot Day.

Just 234 days into 2020, humanity has exhausted all the resources that Earth can regenerate for the entire year. For the remaining days, we are just maintaining our ecological deficit through depleting local resource stocks and accumulating waste such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

How is Earth Overshoot Day calculated?

Earth Overshoot Day is not an exact date; instead, it’s an estimate which depends on this calculation:

(Earth’s Biocapacity / Humanity’s Ecological Footprint) x 365 = Earth Overshoot Day

Earth’s Biocapacity: Earth’s ability to generate resources

Ecological Footprint: demands placed upon nature

As ironic as it seems, this year’s Earth Overshoot Date was delayed to a much later date due to the coronavirus-induced lockdowns worldwide. Results extrapolated from the trendlines from the National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts data show decreases in Carbon Footprint (14.5%) and forest product Footprint (8.4%). Hence, a 9.3% overall reduction in the global Ecological Footprint from last year’s.

This year’s reductions in economic activity make saving the planet appear seemingly easy. This is not the case.

This year, humanity will utilize 60% more resources than the Earth’s regenerative capacity, which signifies that we would need 1.6 Earths to sustain us at our 2020 rate of resource use.

For every year we overshoot, we are augmenting our ecological debt, therefore decreasing Earth’s regenerative capacity. If our resource use remains constant, the overshoot date will continue on moving earlier for the years to come. Reduction in resource use is needed in order to preserve our planet.

Let’s work together to #MoveTheDate.

Given the COVID-19 Shock, every environmentalist has this question looming inside their heads: How do we recover from this crisis and establish a better future?

Start with yourself. As cliché as it seems, the smallest of actions could set off a chain reaction that becomes so much bigger than ourselves.

Commute carbon-free
Plant trees
Purchase less fast fashion
Indulge in urban gardening
Switch your meat for plant-based alternatives
Volunteer in your local conservation organization
Campaign for environmental policies, urban planning, and more

You are crucial in this restoration and preservation process.

Sources:

https://www.overshootday.org/about-earth-overshoot-day/

https://www.footprintnetwork.org/