Today, humanity exhausts the natural resources of the planet planned for the year 2018
Today, August 1, humanity exhausts the natural resources expected for all of 2018, one day earlier in relation to the previous year, which means that the equivalent of 1.7 planets is consumed on average, in what is known as the Day Earth Overcapacity or “Earth Overshoot Day”.
Therefore, more than 7.6 billion inhabitants of the Earth have already consumed the reserves throughout the year, according to data from the international organization Global Footprint Network, in charge of measuring the expenditure of natural resources in the world.
Likewise, governments have created protected areas so that animals and plants can live without being affected by human action because otherwise, they would have ended up becoming extinct. These are totally special places, details for future generations.
However, according to a study published in the journal Science, it is likely that a third of these protected areas (approximately six million square kilometers) suffer from human pressure. Roads, mines, industrial farms, farms, municipalities and cities threaten protected areas.
The Global Footprint Network calculates the different demands of humanity’s natural resources: food, wood, fibers such as cotton, or the construction of infrastructure. Most of humanity’s ecological footprint corresponds to the carbon footprint produced primarily by burning fossil fuels.
That needs to be mentioned that people have a “critical” opportunity from now to 2020 to agree on actions and commitments on a global scale that reverse the loss of nature by 2030.
In this way, people can act in everyday life to delay ‘Earth Overcapacity Day’, taking actions such as reducing food waste and meat consumption or adopting sustainable transport habits.