Happy Ecological Debt Day

[Andy Hamilton]

Well, this is not really one to celebrate. I got this from Yahoo this morning it does not makes for worrying reading I think. Perhaps it is really time to go out and collect some tree seeds and get planting!

The world has slid into "ecological debt", having used up all the natural resources the planet can provide this year, according to the New Economics Foundation.
(Advertisement)

The think-tank said humans were using up resources such as forests and fisheries faster than they can be regenerated and producing more waste, mainly carbon dioxide, than the planet can absorb.

As a result, we have been increasingly "overshooting" nature's budget each year since the 1980s, NEF said.

Tuesday marks the date when we have exceeded the natural resources the planet can provide for this year - a day which has been creeping steadily earlier each year.

From now until the end of the year, humanity is "dipping into our ecological reserves, borrowing from the future," according to Dr Mathis Wackernagel, executive director of the Global Footprint Network.

Each year, the network calculates humanity's ecological footprint - the demands it puts on the planet - and compares it to the capacity of the Earth's ecosystems to generate resources and absorb waste.

Human beings are currently using up the capacity of 1.4 planets, and consumption is increasing.

Last year, Ecological Debt Day, formulated by NEF based on data from the Global Footprint Network, was October 6 - although new data has been taken into account this year including emissions from slash and burn agriculture and biofuels.

Incorporating the new data into last year's calculations would have put Ecological Debt Day 2007 on September 28, showing human consumption is still on the rise, NEF said.

According to the foundation, the failure to live within our ecological means is the root of many of the most pressing environmental concerns, including climate change, collapsing fisheries, declining biodiversity and factors contributing to the current food crisis.

[Penny Lane]

I was going to give my left over apples to the horses but think I'll give them back to the earth now.

This is very worrying (albeit not surprising) news. We'll have to promote eco resolutions even more now
but they still won't listen

[Fizzy Izzy]

I was going to give my left over apples to the horses but think I'll give them back to the earth now.

Don't worry - if you give the leftover apples to the horses, they will give it back to the earth as wonderful enriching manure!

I agree that this is all rather worrying - when will people realise what's happening?

[Flo]

People may realise. But realisation and action are two different matters.

[Annpan]

This is all too depressing for me... It just isn't fair that those of us that worry about it are the one who break our backs doing something about it.

I'm not in ecological debt, in fact I think I have credit in my account.

[Wombat]

Yes it is worrying and I can see the point in putting this out there to generate action.

But what puzzles me is how they can possibly come up with a number (or date for that matter) for something as huge and as complex as resource usage for the entire earth with any degree of accuracy. It seems to me that it must be one huge guesstimation and the assertion that the date is getting earlier each year is, as a result, meaningless.

Nev

[Ellendra]

But what puzzles me is how they can possibly come up with a number (or date for that matter) for something as huge and as complex as resource usage for the entire earth with any degree of accuracy. It seems to me that it must be one huge guesstimation and the assertion that the date is getting earlier each year is, as a result, meaningless.

Nev

48.9% of statistics are made up on the spot.

[ina]

It seems to me that it must be one huge guesstimation and the assertion that the date is getting earlier each year is, as a result, meaningless.

Nev

Yes - a lot of science is intelligent guesstimates - but then, you have to study for years and years to acquire the knowledge to make intelligent guesstimates... That's the difference between making things up on the spot and doing science.

So, although (most) scientists will happily agree that their predictions cannot be 100% accurate, they are pretty close.

[QuakerBear]

I don't think we'll really realise what we're doing until it's too late.