Earth Overshoot Day refers to a time of the year when the resources that we use end up exceeding the amount that the Earth can create on an annual basis. Each year, Earth Overshoot Day draws closer and closer to the start of the year. That highlights just how excessive our resource consumption can be with all things having been considered and taken into account.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Earth Overshoot Day this year is falling on August 2nd. This marks the earliest overshoot day since it first began in the year 1970 when humanity exceeded Earth’s annual resources on the last day of the year.
In spite of the fact that this is the case, there are still plenty of countries that don’t have an Earth and Overshoot Day. This is largely due to their low resource consuming nature, and virtually all of these countries can be found in Asia and Africa with a few examples in South America as well.
The subcontinental nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka along with their northern neighbor of Afghanistan stand out quite a bit. Countries across Eastern, Western and Southern Africa, with the notable exception of South Africa itself, also serve as role models.
More people need to start living like the citizens of these countries because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up keeping the impending climate catastrophe at bay. On the other end of the spectrum are European nations like France and Germany which use twice as many natural resources on an annual basis.
America, of course, uses far more natural resources and if everyone lived like Americans the world would collapse faster than might have been the case otherwise. It will be interesting to see how much closer Earth Overshoot Day comes in 2024, since it is already edging far too close to the first half of the year and it might start occurring in the second quarter by the end of the decade.
H/T: Statista Blog
Read next: New Report Reveals 3.3 Billion Interconnected Devices Will Start Trading Money and Data by 2030
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Earth Overshoot Day this year is falling on August 2nd. This marks the earliest overshoot day since it first began in the year 1970 when humanity exceeded Earth’s annual resources on the last day of the year.
In spite of the fact that this is the case, there are still plenty of countries that don’t have an Earth and Overshoot Day. This is largely due to their low resource consuming nature, and virtually all of these countries can be found in Asia and Africa with a few examples in South America as well.
The subcontinental nations of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka along with their northern neighbor of Afghanistan stand out quite a bit. Countries across Eastern, Western and Southern Africa, with the notable exception of South Africa itself, also serve as role models.
More people need to start living like the citizens of these countries because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up keeping the impending climate catastrophe at bay. On the other end of the spectrum are European nations like France and Germany which use twice as many natural resources on an annual basis.
America, of course, uses far more natural resources and if everyone lived like Americans the world would collapse faster than might have been the case otherwise. It will be interesting to see how much closer Earth Overshoot Day comes in 2024, since it is already edging far too close to the first half of the year and it might start occurring in the second quarter by the end of the decade.
H/T: Statista Blog
Read next: New Report Reveals 3.3 Billion Interconnected Devices Will Start Trading Money and Data by 2030
