Earth Overshoot Day refers to the day by which we have used up all the resources that the planet has generated in an entire year. This year, July 29 is Earth Overshoot Day. So we have already used up our entire budget for the entire year, a month back.
Most governments would panic at the prospect of exceeding their budget by even a few points. But the prospect of humanity devouring all its quota of biological resources seems to elicit a jaded response. Every resource that the Earth will regenerate has already been used by July 29 this year, according to figures released by Global Footprint Network (GFN).
The earth overshoot day is the same this year as in 2019. It indicates that despite all our stated concern for the dwindling resources of our planet, it is business as usual across the face of the earth.
The Earth Overshoot Day Must Be Pushed Back Farther
The onset of the pandemic helped make some progress on this front as humans were forced to control their voracious appetite for their natural resources.
GFN has reported that the planet and its denizens use up 74% more than the ecosystem has been regenerating. In effect, we will be spending 1.7 Earths this year. so from Earth Overshoot Day to the last day of the year is a period of budget deficit spending in ecological terms.
The current spending is the largest ever since humanity has been overshooting its ecological budget since the 1970s. a major factor was a 6.6% rise in carbon footprint globally in 2020.
Moreover, there was a decrease in regeneration capacity, as in the Amazon rainforests. Here a decrease in the forest biocapacity caused a global deficit of 0.5%. Brazil alone cut down 1.1M hectares, fueled by the drive-by their President Bolsonaro to clean up the rainforests for ‘development purposes.
Read: Nature Exploitation By Humans Has Killed 2/3rd Of Animal Population In The Last 50 Years
There has also been a 43% rise in deforestation on the planet that has preponed the Earth Overshoot Day this year. carbon footprints caused by transportation, both air, and land, will be 5% lower.
The WWF has said that a laid-back approach will not help push back Earth Overshoot Day. We need to immediately take measures by stopping food wastage, production of fossil fuels, cutting down air, land, and sea transport, and increase in forest cover.
