What is the meaning of Earth Overshoot Day?
Earlier known as Ecological Debt Day. It is a calculated date on which humanity's resource consumption for the year exceeds Earth's capacity to regenerate those resources that year. The term overshoot symbolizes the level by which the human population overshoots the sustainable amount of resources on Earth. From the economic point of view, Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) represents the day on which humanity enters environmental deficit spending.
Who calculates EOD and How is it calculated?
EOD is calculated by the Global Footprint Network, which is a campaign supported by many other nonprofit organizations. Firstly, the number of days of that particular year that Earth's Biocapacity suffices to provide for humanity's Ecological Footprint is calculated. The remaining days after the calculated date corresponds to global overshoot days.
Biocapacity is the ability of resources to renew themselves and Ecological Footprint is the impact we have on the environment.
EOD is calculated by dividing the planet's Biocapacity by humanity's Ecological Footprint and multiplying by 365 (number of days in a year).
The formula to calculate EOD: (Earth's Biocapacity/ Humanity's Ecological Footprint) X 365 = Earth Overshoot Day
Why is there so hype about EOD?
Everything was good until the early 1970s when humans consumed without exceeding the natural capacity of natural ecosystems. But Earth was not able to cope up with the increasing demand for resources and it resulted in overshooting. Since the early 1970s, the day kept pushing earlier and earlier.
The situation was so bad that last year July 29 was declared as Earth Overshoot Day - it is the earliest since the calculation started. The scary fact is that it followed a thirty-year trend of steadily pushed overshoot days.
What does this signify? In easier to understand way, we can say that we are using natural resources 1.75 times faster than the Earth can regenerate. This also means that we need a planet equivalent to 1.75 times earth if we need to thrive without overshooting the resources.
In 2020, it is estimated that EOD will be on 22 August. And this is because of coronavirus that has resulted in the halt of economies all across the world. As per research by Global Footprint Network, there has been a 9.3% reduction in the global Ecological Footprint compared to the same period last year. Mainly because of a 14.5% reduction in the Carbon footprint and an 8.4% reduction in the Forest Product Footprint as compared to 2019.
This is not good news because if there would have been no halt of economics due to coronavirus the earth overshoot day would have been earlier than 29 July.
Which countries are overshooting the resources to the maximum extent?
The world is a diverse place with more than 200 countries and many diverse cultures and economies. Some countries as they say are developed and some are developing. It is obvious that the demand for resources is going to be different in different countries.
If every country consumed resources like the developed nations where the demand for resources is the highest then the overshoot day would have been way earlier. If everyone on this earth lives like the people of Qatar then February 11 would be the Earth Overshoot Day, Luxembourg - February 16, the UAE - March 8, Kuwait - March 11 and the USA - March 15.
What has led to such a bad situation?
The most major factor responsible for EOD keep getting earlier is the increasing world population, there has been a sudden increase in population. The has more than doubled in the last sixty years, from 3.3 billion in 1960 to 7.7 billion in 2019. The increasing population results in an increase in the demand for resources and earth is not being able to cope up with this increasing demand.
Along with the increasing population, the income of people has increased which leads to buying of resources that are even required again putting a lot of pressure on the earth. People are consuming resources at a crazy rate.
My Opinion:
If we continue to exploit the resources at a rate greater than their regeneration then as per the UN projections and the Global Footprint Data, the increasing population and consumption would mean that we will need two earths by 2030 to fulfill human needs.
We need to do something quickly to control the rising population. Consume resources in a sustainable manner.
Remember the clock is ticking very fast and we have very little time left to do something about climate change because after that an irreversible chain of changes in climate would be initiated and we will not be able to do anything even if we want to.
References:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Overshoot_Day
2. https://www.overshootday.org/2020-calculation/
3. https://www.earthday.org/earth-overshoot-day-is-july-29-the-earliest-ever/
4. https://youmatter.world/en/earth-overshoot-day-europe-carbon-28450/
5. https://www.overshootday.org/newsroom/media-backgrounder/
You must be logged in to post a comment.