Humans have officially used more natural resources in 2018 than the Earth can renew this year.
That means Aug. 1 is Earth Overshoot Day, and it’s the earliest date for the event since calculations began by the Global Footprint Network (GFN) in 1971.
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Last year, the date was a day later and fell on Aug. 2. In 1971, the date was Dec. 21.
The GFN explained that to fulfill demands, humans would require 1.7 Earths this year.
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Much of the over-consumption has been driven by excessive fishing and harvesting of forests, and rising carbon dioxide emissions.
The GFN warned that constantly over-using resources can have detrimental effects such as deforestation, drought, and freshwater shortages.
Earth overshoot for countries
The organization also measured individual overshoot days for countries.
“A country’s overshoot day is the date on which Earth Overshoot Day would fall if all of humanity consumed like the people in this country,” it explained.
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If everyone on Earth consumed like Canadians, the planet would fall short of resources just three months into the year on March 18.
That offers a sobering reality on Canadian consumption, but several countries have earlier dates. The first is Feb. 9 for Qatar.
The country which has the latest overshoot day is Vietnam, and it falls on Dec. 21.
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#MoveTheDate
This year, the organization has revived its #MoveTheDate campaign from 2017 in order to encourage people to create change.
It explains that if Earth Overshoot Day was moved back 4.5 days each year, humans could return to “living within the means of one Earth” before 2050.
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The campaign encourages individuals to make their own pledges for how they plan to reduce consumption in their lives.
Some promises highlighted on its website include shopping less, eating less meat and embracing eco-friendly travel.
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