Environmentalists lament 'ecological debt day'
Earth's resources are being used up
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Monday, 09, Oct 2006 08:39
Humans are now extracting more natural resources from the planet than its ecological system can withstand, according to the Global Footprint Network (GFN).
Its research shows that today is 'ecological debt day' - the day when humanity will begin depleting the Earth's 'ecological capital' of non-sustainable resources.
Based around a calculation of what resources the Earth can replace in a year and what humans are actually using, the research finds that the day on which sustainable resources run out is getting earlier and earlier in the year.
The first year in which the balance shifted to overall ecological debt, or "overshoot" day, was 1987.
Since then it has slipped further and further back into the year, to November 21st in 1995 and to October 9th in 2006.
"Humanity is living off its ecological credit card and can only do this by liquidating the planet's natural resources," explained Mathis Wackernagel, GFN's executive director.
"While this can be done for a short while, overshoot ultimately leads to the depletion of resources, such as the forests, oceans and agricultural land upon which our economy depends."
Eating into the planet's natural resources is causing deforestation, the extinction of species and water and energy shortages, the New Economics Foundation (Nef), GFN's research partner, points out.
"By living so far beyond our environmental means, and running up ecological debts we make two mistakes," Andrew Simms, policy director of Nef, said.
"First, we deny millions globally who already lack access to sufficient land, food and clean water the chance to meet their needs. Secondly, we put the planet's life support mechanisms in peril."