The human race has already used more water, soil, clean air and other natural resources for the year than Earth can produce in a 365 day cycle.
According to a report in The Independent, man has proven itself to be made up largely of over-consuming meat-bags, taking just seven full months of 2017 to achieve the disappointing feat.
The case study comes from the World Wildlife Fund and the Global Footprint Network (GFN), with today now marked as ‘Earth Overshooot Day
The study shows that
By August 2 2017, we will have used more from Nature than our planet can renew in the whole year…
… in seven months, we emitted more carbon than the oceans and forests can absorb in a year, we caught more fish, felled more trees, harvested more, and consumed more water than the Earth was able to produce in the same period.
Furthermore it would take 1.7 planets to make up the rate of consumption of the natural resources of Earth’s growing population, according to the campaigners.
Earth Overshoot Day first gained recognition in 1986 and was setup to measure the amount of intake of Earth’s natural resources used by man. The study examines the balance between mans’ global footprint on the earth and the ‘biocapacity, which allows us to produce resources and absorb our waste’.
However The Independent has pointed out that “the day has never fallen so early as in 2017”.
The GFN claim that 26 per cent of our global footprint is a consequence of food consumption.
They argue if we cut our food waste in half, consumed less ‘protein-intensive’ foods and more fruit and vegetables our carbon footprint would be reduced to 16 per cent.
It certainly sounds like that could be the way forward, or a start at the very least.
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