Do you know what Earth Overshoot Day is?
Our planet Earth has a capacity to regenerate its natural resources. When these resources are consumed at a higher rate than the planet can regenerate them, then we are dealing with a situation of overexploitation, also known as ecological deficit. Unfortunately, humans have been overexploiting natural resources for so many decades that Earth Overcapacity Day was created to mark the day on which humanity exhausts the resources that the planet is capable of generating in a year. In this way, the NGO Global Footprint Network wants to highlight the human footprint on the planet.
Earth Overshoot Day has been calculated since 1970. By then the date was 27 December and year after year it has been shortened. Now, in 2021, the date has been reduced to 29 July.
By 2021 we will have exhausted the resources the Earth generates annually in just 210 days. To give you an idea, it would be equivalent to your bank account going into the red today and having to take out a mortgage to survive until the end of the year. Evidently these red numbers that we are generating then have to be paid in one way or another and with interest. That is why every year the planet is more and more at the limit and there are more environmental catastrophes such as droughts, floods, fires...
Why is Earth Overshoot Day coming earlier and earlier?
Two factors are taken into account to derive the date of Earth Overshoot Day. On the one hand, biocapacity (biological regeneration capacity) and on the other hand, the ecological footprint generated by humans (demand for resources). Overexploitation causes the biocapacity to shrink, with fewer forests available, fewer fish in the sea... and therefore the planet's capacity to regenerate these resources is diminished. If we analyse the other factor that determines the date, the ecological footprint, we see how it has not stopped growing as a result of high population growth and a lifestyle that requires more and more resources and is squandered without regard.
Can the current situation be improved?
We have been in a vicious circle for decades and we need to try to change the dynamic. There are many changes we can make in our daily lives to reduce our footprint, such as using renewable energies, eliminating food waste, buying local and seasonal food, reducing or eliminating the consumption of meat and fish... There are studies that show that just by reducing 50% of the food we waste, we could delay the arrival of the Day of Overcapacity by 11 days. Imagine the sum of small actions... it would allow natural resources to slowly regenerate faster and year after year show more favourable data. If we were to delay the date by just 4.5 days each year, by 2050 the Earth would be able to generate the resources we need to live without damage or overexploitation.
More on Earth Overshoot Day
In 2021 Spain reached Earth Overshoot Day on 25 May; this indicates that if all other countries were to show the same levels of consumption as the average Spaniard, we would need 2.5 planets to live on.