August 13th marks Earth Overshoot Day - the day humanity has used up the natural resources the world can supply in a year, according to data from Global Footprint Network, an international sustainability think tank. The date is calculated each year by contrasting the world’s demand on nature (ecological footprint) with the biocapacity - forests, pastures, cropland and fisheries as well as the planet’s ability to replenish resources and absorb waste, including carbon dioxide emissions. The costs of this ecological overspending are becoming more evident by the day, in the form of deforestation, drought, fresh-water scarcity, soil erosion, biodiversity loss and the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The world enters ecological ‘overshoot’ this year seven days earlier than in 2014. The day has moved from early October in 2000 to August 13th this year, showing that humans are exhausting natural resources faster than ever. For the rest of the year, we will be living on resources borrowed from future generations. The United States has busted its annual ecological budget already on July 14th, using twice the resources and services nature can provide. In 1961, humans used only around three-quarters of the capacity Earth has for generating food, timber, fish and absorbing greenhouse gases. According to the Global Footprint Network, we would currently need 1.6 Earths to produce the renewable resources needed to support our footprint. Carbon emissions makes up more than half of the total ecological footprint. “Humanity’s carbon footprint alone more than doubled since the early 1970s, which is when the world went into ecological overshoot. It remains the fastest growing component of the widening gap between the Ecological Footprint and the planet’s biocapacity,” said Mathis Wackernagel, president of the think tank. The carbon footprint is closely linked to other components of the footprint - cropland, grazing land, forests and productive land built over with buildings and roads. As more land is needed for food and timber production, fewer areas are available to absorb carbon from fossil fuels, the Network warns. However, a change of course is still possible. If global carbon emissions were reduced by at least 30% by 2030 compared to today’s levels, as in the International Panel on Climate Change’s suggested scenario, Earth Overshoot Day could be moved back to September 16th by 2030. By contrast, business as usual would mean using the resources equivalent to two planets by 2030, using up the Earth’s resources by June 28th. (ab)