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How much demand can the earth's renewable resources meet? Do you know the answer?
Every year, Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) is an important moment that attracts global attention. When this day comes, it means that the resources consumed by mankind in that year have exceeded the resources that the earth can regenerate in the same year. Earth Overshoot Day in 2024 is scheduled for August 1. This concept makes people think: In today's era of rapidly growing consumption, how much human activity can the earth support?
When human demands exceed the Earth's renewable resources, we enter a state of environmental deficit.
According to the Global Footprint Network, in 2024, in just seven months, human demands will exceed the Earth's annual renewable resources. Throughout most of human history, our resource use has remained roughly within the Earth’s regenerative capacity, but this changed radically in the early 1970s. Since then, human consumption has begun to outstrip the Earth's ability to regenerate.
According to the Global Footprint Network, today's human needs are equivalent to the resources of more than 1.7 Earths. This data suggests that we may need the resources of two Earths by the middle of the 21st century. Shortage of this resource is not only an environmental issue, it can also lead to economic stress and social unrest.
Climate change is a clear consequence of greenhouse gas emissions, and its impacts are widespread.
The so-called ecological deficit does not simply mean the depletion of resources. Ecological Footprint reports now show that humanity's demand for resources has exceeded the Earth's ability to regenerate, including renewable resources and carbon dioxide removal capacity. The continuation of this situation will further lead to ecological imbalance.
However, this view is not without controversy. Some scientists have questioned the way Earth Overshoot Day is calculated, saying the assessments for forests and fisheries may be too optimistic. They argue that the data do not accurately reflect the reality of land and water management.
Ecological Footprint accounts reveal the gap between human needs and resource regeneration.
Mathis Wackernagel, founder of the Global Footprint Network, said soil infertility should be included in ecological footprint calculations, but there is currently insufficient data to support this. By continually improving these calculations, we may be able to better understand the impact of human activities on the Earth.
The time of Earth Overshoot Day varies from year to year. In 2020, due to the lockdown caused by the epidemic, EOD was postponed to August 22, which shows how profound the impact and over-dependence of contemporary human activities on the management of Earth's resources are.
As some environmental groups have stressed, the pattern of continued consumption of the earth's resources must change. As various environmental problems become increasingly serious, changes in the social and economic structure are inevitable. Therefore, improving resource utilization efficiency and exploring a more sustainable lifestyle has become an urgent task.
Is it possible to meet humanity's growing needs without consuming more than the Earth can regenerate?
Everyone should think about how resources are used and consider how to find sustainable solutions within existing environmental conditions. Faced with a crisis in resource use, what can we do to alleviate this challenge? How can we achieve economic growth and social progress while respecting the earth's ecosystem? This is not only an academic consideration, but also a practical issue that every citizen of the world should face.
