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Earth’s Resources for 2015 Already Are Exhausted

Aug. 13, 2015
In less than eight months, the population has exhausted the Earth's resources for the year.

In seven months and some change, humanity has already used more ecological resources in 2015 than the Earth can regenerate in a year’s time.

Global Footprint Network, an international think tank, refers to this day as Earth Overshoot Day. The day, which occurred on Aug. 13 this year, used to land in October. Yet, as the population’s demand for resources continues to exceed the planet’s ability to regenerate those resources, we continue to run an ecological deficit.

More than half of that demand is related to carbon sequestration, Global Footprint Network said.

In a survey by Global Footprint Network and Tetra Pak, a food processing and packaging company, only 41 percent of respondents said they were “very aware of the issue of resource constraints.”

Eighty-one percent of respondents said that the responsibility for addressing ecological constraints is not that of solely one group (individuals, industry, government).

They also recognized the need to do more to preserve resources individually by changing their own behaviors and for companies to consider the lifecycle of products.

About the Author

Ginger Christ | Associate Editor

Ginger Christ is an associate editor for EHS Today, a Penton publication.

She has covered business news for the past seven years, working at daily and weekly newspapers and magazines in Ohio, including the Dayton Business Journal and Crain’s Cleveland Business.

Most recently, she covered transportation and leadership for IndustryWeek, a sister publication to EHS Today.

She holds a bachelor of arts in English and in Film Studies from the University of Pittsburgh.

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