#overshootday: a watershed date

“Please, don’t take this planet for granted!”

Leonardo DiCaprio

“On August 8, 2016, we will have used as much from nature as our planet can renew in the whole year.”

www.overshootday.org

August the 8, 2016, is a definitely waterspread date for our planet: it is the “Earth Overshoot Day”, previously known as “Ecological Debt Day”.
What does it mean?Since now, the humankind will be using more than the Nature is able to regenerate.
Since now, we will be consuming more than our planet can create in a year, in terms of minerals, vegetables, animals, any form of life. (E.g., we emit more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than the oceans and the forests are able to absorb and in this way we accelerate the climate imbalance that contributes to reducing the resources available because it increases desertification and aridity of the land).
Since now, we are in an ecological deficit spending. Since now, we are overshooting our environment.
Earth Overshoot Day is mathematically calculated by dividing the world biocapacity (the amount of natural resources generated by Earth that year), by the world ecological footprint (humanity’s consumption of Earth’s natural resources for that year), and multiplying by 365, the number of days in one Gregorian common calendar year.
Of course, we can do something to save the Earth! And we must. Current technologies can deal with renewables energies, and that would reduce the risks and the costs. Costa Rica obtained from renewable energies the 97% of the electricity it needed for the first quarter of 2016; and almost the same did Portugal, Germany and United Kingdom. China set up a plan to halve the consumption of meat in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by one billion tonnes by 2030. We could change our food, increasing the vegetarian diet, and recycle the material used in the production cycle.
As for now, situation is still critic and the Overshoot Day comes each year a day before; in 2000 it was in September, in 2016 in August.
Information about Global Footprint Network’s calculations and national Ecological Footprints can be found at www.footprintnetwork.org/public.

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