2023-08-02 18:20:18
By Marc Cherki
Posted 2 hours ago, Updated 2 hours ago
Until the 1960s, the Earth’s resources were sufficient to meet the needs of humanity. But since the beginning of the 1970s this date has moved back. CURIOS / stock.adobe.com
It would take 1.7 Earth to meet the demands of the world’s population, explains the Global Footprint Network, which calculates the ecological footprint of human activities.
For three decades, Mathis Wackernagel, founder of the Global Footprint Network, had the idea of calculating the number of planets that we use in a year instead of the number of inhabitants that the Earth could support without exhausting the resources provided naturally for a year. For 2023, it would take 1.7 Earths, according to the method developed in 1997, because the date of the overshoot falls on August 2.
This overshoot day is therefore the day when humanity has consumed all the resources that the Earth can generate in one year. Beyond that, it lives on credit, drawing on reserves that cannot be regenerated naturally. For example, as humanity continues to eat after August 2, agricultural crops expand and deforestation increases.
Read alsoAn interview with Mathis Wackernagel
Nevertheless, there is a slight decline in overshoot day over a year. It’s better than 2022. « But four days are attributable to the consideration of new data to refine the calculations. Corrected from these improvements, Overshoot Day…
This article is for subscribers only. You have 76% left to discover.
Flash Sale -70%
Offer available until August 15. Without engagement.
Already subscribed? Login
#August #humanity #lives #credit