- Data Points
We’ve Consumed More Than the Earth Can Produce This Year
Thursday, August 13, is Earth Overshoot Day, when resource use is expected to outstrip the capacity for production—and it’s getting earlier every year.
It may feel like Christmas comes earlier each year, but there’s a less joyful day that really is moving closer on the calendar.
Earth Overshoot Day is the day when—according to estimates—the total combined consumption of all human activity on Earth in a year overtakes the planet’s ability to generate those resources for that year.
How is it measured?
"It’s quite simple,” says Dr. Mathis Wackernagel of the think tank Global Footprint Network. “We look at all the resource demands of humanity that compete for space, like food, fiber, timber, et cetera, then we look at how much area is needed to provide those services and how much productive surface is available."
Here’s his bottom line metaphor. Earth Overshoot Day is like the
