UPSC Exam Preparation: Topic of the Day – Earth Overshoot Day

Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) marks the date when we, (all of humanity) have used more from nature than our planet can renew in the entire year (in 365 days).

In this topic, you can read about Earth Overshoot Day and related details about the day for UPSC preparation. For the IAS exam, you need to be aware of certain important such days on the calendar which are increasingly becoming talking points in the country and world.

Details:

• Earth Overshoot Day was previously known as Ecological Debt Day (EDD).
• The Overshoot Day is the calculated illustrative calendar date on which the consumption of resources by humanity for a particular year exceeds the planet’s capacity to regenerate those resources in 365 days i.e, that year. 
• When looked at, from an economic perspective, Earth Overshoot Day represents the day in which humanity enters an ecological deficit spending.
• From an Ecological perspective, Earth Overshoot Day represents the level by which human population overshoots its environment.
• Earth Overshoot Day is an initiative of Global Footprint Network, an international research organization, and a charitable not-for-profit organization that is changing the way the natural resources are measured and managed across the globe.  
• The date of Earth Overshoot Day is calculated with data from Global Footprint Network’s National Footprint Accounts.

How is Earth Overshoot day arrived at?

The Earth Overshoot Day is arrived at by dividing the world bio-capacity (the amount of natural resources generated by Earth in that particular year), by the world ecological footprint (humanity’s consumption of Earth’s natural resources for that particular year), and multiplying the result by 365 (the number of days in one Gregorian common calendar year).

Earth Overshoot Day = (World Bio-capacity/ World Ecological Footprint) * 365

Earth Overshoot Day 2018:

In 2018, Earth Overshoot Day is on August 1. We are using 1.7 Earths. We use more ecological resources and services than nature can regenerate through overfishing, overharvesting forests, and emitting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than ecosystems can absorb.

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