Humanity is wasting the resources of the planet, which up to some point can compensate for these losses. When our demands exceed the capabilities of the Earth, it cannot compensate for them, as well as cope with the processing of our waste products. This day came on August 19. From yesterday until the end of the year, we will live on debt.
While the planet's population is growing rapidly, the planet itself does not change in size. Every year, mankind spends more and more renewable resources. If last year, according to the nongovernmental organization Global Footprint Network (GFN), this date came, according to the calculations of its experts, August 20, then this - a day earlier.
According to calculations, in order to compensate for the extraction of minerals and raw materials by people, the Earth should now be about one and a half times its current size. Even the most conservative projections suggest that three planets will be needed to fully meet the growing population's demand for raw materials and food by mid-century.
If we do not urgently start limiting ourselves in consumption and increasing the efficiency of the economy, warns the GFN, our life on Earth in the near future will become physically impossible.
The first time the date of selection of renewable resources was calculated was in 2000. 14 years ago she was in early October. Half a century ago, we used the Earth's resources to three quarters of its capacity. The excess of what humanity needs over what the Earth can give began in the seventies of the last century.
The influence of humanity on the planet, alas, is not limited to the extraction of resources. We leave behind a huge variety of negative consequences, ranging from the destruction of forests to the reduction of biological diversity.
However, the main negative consequence of human activity today is the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by industry, the main cause of global warming.