Today is Overshoot day 2024:what does it mean that we have exhausted the resources for the year

August has arrived and, inexorably, so has Overshoot day.The day we go into debt with the Earth comes sooner and earlier.If the trend continues that sees us "losing" a day every year, in 2236 we would start the year already without renewable resources.

How do you get into debt with the Earth? 

The limitation of resources is a concept that human beings have always understood very well.In summer the Earth offers certain resources, in winter others, and the trick to surviving is to adapt to these availability or employ solutions that circumvent this condition, such as the practice of warehousing.A practice common to many species, from the squirrel that stocks up on acorns, to the ant that fills the anthill with food before winter, to the cactus that absorbs water when present, and then uses it in case of need.Even human beings are not excluded, and the granaries of the ancient Romans, the water cisterns of the Byzantine Empire, or any woodshed of a house in the mountains, are proof of this.  

When was the first Overshoot day?

The human population, however, has changed course since 1971 and has entered a spiral also called "unlimited growth", in which there is no storage, and there is no concern or respect for the earth's supply. We want everything, always, immediately.This approach meant that the resources made available by the Earth annually were not enough for many nations on the planet, causing the latter to draw from the following year's resources, once they had figuratively run out.  

For easier understanding you can think of bank cards:the debit card represents man in the past, or other species, who had a sum available and was careful not to take it to zero;the credit card, on the other hand, represents man today, so the amount available is not relevant because you can get into debt with the bank and you can make the desired purchase without necessarily having your own money available.So theEarth Overshoot day it's the day we start using credit cards, getting into debt to the Earth.Fifty years ago this date was in December, now in August, the first of the month.

This date is the result of a calculation which is carried out annually by Global footprint network.It is the relationship between the biocapacity of the planet, i.e. the amount of all the resources that the Earth is able to generate annually, e the ecological footprint of humanity, i.e. the total demand for resources for the entire year, which is then multiplied by the number of days in a year.Thus, we get the Earth Overshoot Day date.  

Earth Overshoot day = (Annual biocapacity of planet Earth / annual ecological footprint of humanity) x 365 

The result of this calculation for this year it was August 1, one day earlier than in 2023.This could be associated with our bad behavior, but in reality, for this time, the fact that 2024 is a leap year makes us look less bad.The presence of an extra day, February 29th, brought the date forward.We will have proof that this is the only reason when the date returns to August 2, in 2025. 

Let's postpone the date, #movethedate 

By reversing course, we will postpone the date.The solution map for #MoveTheDate of the Global footprint network is a point of reference for publishing and consulting relevant information on active projects and solutions that contribute to bringing human activity back into balance with the ecological balance of the Earth.This means move the date of Earth Overshoot day to December 31st or later. 

Explore the map to find solutions implemented in your country.