What is Earth Overshoot Day?

Do you really know?
Aug 7, 2021 4 min
What is Earth Overshoot Day?
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About this episode

What is Earth Overshoot Day? Thanks for asking!  July 29th saw an unwelcome landmark in the calendar as we reached Earth Overshoot Day. It might sound like a celebration, but the reality is a lot more troubling.  Earth Overshoot Day marks the point during a year at which humans have used up all the planet’s resources. To use a budgeting analogy, from that day onwards, we’re effectively living on credit and building up ecological debt. It’s estimated that we currently use 74% more resources than what the planet can produce. To sustain consumption rates, we would need 1.7 planet Earths. Spoiler alert: we only have one! The consequences on the environment are drastic. What kind of resources are we talking about? That’s a positive sign at least, isn’t it? Is the calculation foolproof? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! To listen to the last episodes, you can click here: What is Godwin’s Law? What are the Puppy Blues? What are blue zones? A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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