is the day of the year when we as humans demand more from earth than we can give back. Which entails that humanity’s demand for resources and services exceed what our Earth can regenerate in a given year.

This year we are two days ahead of last year, August 1. It is the earliest day ever recorded. Each year The Global Footprint Network calculates our ecological footprint and our bio-capacity. They measure this in how much water and land we need to supply us with our high demands of consumption and living. The bio-capacity is how much of that Earth can regenerate in a year. When you subtract one from the other, it becomes clear that we almost need two earths to keep giving us what we want, 1.7 to be precise.

The Earth hasn’t been able to keep up with our demand since 1970, Earth Overshoot Day that year was on December 29. That day has moved forward almost every year. The long-term consequences of this can be food and water shortages, more plants and animals will go extinct and the climate will be further disrupted.

Right now it is like we are spending money we don’t have for things we don’t need. Although, at the moment we are borrowing Earth’s future, research suggests that the situation is reversible. And since we can’t copy and paste our Earth, maybe we should appreciate the one Earth we have a little bit more.