In news- The Earth Overshoot day fell on July 29, this year. It is the same date that the world reached overshoot in 2019.
About Earth Overshoot Day-
- It marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year.
- Previously it was known as Ecological Debt Day.
- For the rest of the year, society operates in ecological overshoot by drawing down local resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
- The first Earth Overshoot Day was December 19, 1987.
- It is hosted and calculated by Global Footprint Network, an international research organization.
- It calculates the number of days of that year that Earth’s biocapacity suffices to provide for humanity’s Ecological Footprint.
- The remainder of the year corresponds to global overshoot.
(Earth’s Biocapacity / Humanity’s Ecological Footprint) x 365 = Earth Overshoot Day,
where the Biocapacity is the amount of ecological resources Earth is able to generate that year and humanity’s Ecological Footprint is humanity’s demand for that year. In 2020 it was observed on August 22.
Global Footprint Network-
- It is an independent think tank originally based in the United States, Belgium and Switzerland.
- It was founded in 2003 as a charitable not-for-profit organization in each of those three countries.
- The organization is headquartered in Oakland, California.
- It develops and promotes tools for advancing sustainability, including the ecological footprint and biocapacity.
- Its goal is to create a future where all humans can live well, within the means of one planet Earth.
- The Network brings together over 70 partner organizations.
Every year, it produces a new edition of its National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts, which calculate Ecological Footprint and biocapacity of more than 200 countries and territories from 1961 to the present.
Source: DownToEarth
