Today is Overshoot day 2022: we have plundered all sustainable resources, and one Earth is not enough for us
As of today, man has already consumed all the sustainable resources that our planet can regenerate in the course of 2022. We would need 1.75 lands.
Today, Thursday 28 July, is the Overshoot day 2022, that is the symbolic date (specific for each year) that represents the moment in which humanity has consumed all resources eh ecological services that the Terra can regenerate in a year. In simple terms, from now on and until the end of the year we will take all of this from nature it will be in the red, which has dramatic consequences on the future holding and availability of these resources.
"During the remaining 156 days, our consumption of renewable resources will consist of gnawing at the planet's natural capital," said Dr. Laetitia Mailhes of Global Footprint Network, the research organization that deals with computing, at a press conference. To give a practical example, the man picks up more pesci of the newborn able to replace the catch; by doing so, we will run out of precious items in the future fish stocks starving tens - if not hundreds - of millions of people.
The overfishing it is only one of the many symbols of the Overshoot day, which takes into account any resource linked to biocapacity of the planet, which is precisely the quantity of "gifts" that the Earth can regenerate year after year, not only for man, but also for all other living organisms.
The Global Foodprint Network calculation monitors the anthropogenic impact since the beginning of the 70s of the last century, always obtained using the same method but taking into account (of course) the variables that change according to our consumerist approach.
As the graph above shows, with a few exceptions the Overshoot day occurs with an ever greater advance. If at the beginning of the 70s it fell around the end of December - therefore we only had a few days of "debt" with the Earth - today we have arrived in late July, which means over 5 months of debt.
To make a comparison, if before only one Earth was enough for all, today we would need 1,75 Terre to meet the demands of all humanity without over exploiting the planet, therefore using the resources in sustainable way. Interestingly, in 2020 the Overshoot day fell in late August, in contrast to the dates constantly in advance. The reason is there pandemic of COVID-19which in the first months of 2020 stopped consumption and emissions that wear down natural resources due to the rigid lockdown to stem the coronavirus. The 2008 economic crisis also had an impact.
The fundamental message of this symbolic date is that if we continue to plunder, burn, pollute, destroy and alter the ecological systems that give us the fruits of the Earth, sooner or later we will no longer be able to support ourselves, with catastrophic consequences for the whole of humanity.
"In total, more than half of the planet's biocapacity is used to feed humanity", explains the experts, adding that "much of the food and raw materials are used to feed the animals and animals that we then consume", he specified Pierre Cannet of WWF France. L'agriculture plays a significant role in deforestation loss of biodiversity in the emissions of greenhouse gases and in the consumption of fresh water, explains the expert. These are all factors that erode the planet's renewable natural heritage.
Overshoot day travels parallel to the effects of climate changes, but it is evident that the latter significantly affect the date on the calendar of the former. And when the bill arrives, perhaps it will be the end of our civilization, as some scholars suggest. It is interesting to note that the overshoot day of 28 July refers to the global figure, an average that takes into account the impact of all countries.
But of course there are some that plunder natural resources far more than others, so there is a specific date for each nation. Italy, for example, it consumed its sustainable resources as early as 22 May. So by the end of the year we will have spent over 6 months in “red”, with all that this entails in terms of ecological and climatic consequences and availability of future resources.
