Go Back
  • For Business
  • |
  • Warnings
  • Data Suite
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising
  • Superior Accuracy™
Tropical activity brewing near US Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. Get details Chevron right
Storms to spark on July 4th in parts of the Plains and Southeast. Click here Chevron right

Columbus, OH

73°F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Columbus

Ohio

73°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Columbus, OH Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

For Business

Warnings

Data Suite

Newsletters

Advertising

Superior Accuracy™

Video

Winter Center

AccuWeather Early Hurricane Center Top Stories Trending Today Astronomy Heat Climate Health Recreation In Memoriam Case Studies Blogs & Webinars

News / Weather News

2018 Earth Overshoot Day: We've just exhausted a year’s worth of the planet's resources

By Ashley Williams, AccuWeather staff writer

Published Aug 1, 2018 12:51 PM EDT | Updated Jul 10, 2019 1:51 PM EDT

Copied

Humans have used up more of Earth’s resources than it can regenerate within one year as of Aug. 1, 2018, according to the Global Footprint Network. This year's Earth Overshoot Day is the earliest ever.

Last year’s Earth Overshoot Day fell on Aug. 2. The date, which was previously known as Ecological Debt Day, has occurred steadily earlier since 1971. That year, the date fell on Dec. 21.

“We are using 1.7 Earths,” according to the Global Footprint Network’s website. “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.”

This means it now takes the planet about a year and a half to regenerate the natural resources that humans use in a year, according to the Network.

Earth - Pexels image

“With 7.5 billion people in the world, our needs put enormous pressure on the planet and the wildlife that we share it with,” said Stephanie Feldstein, population and sustainability director for the Center for Biological Diversity’s Population and Sustainability program.

In countries like the United States, a rampant over-consumption is eating up our resources faster than the planet can replenish them, and the debt to the planet is being paid through climate change, drought and wildlife extinction, Feldstein added.

“The resource demand of humanity overall and what Earth is able to renew doesn’t fluctuate that dramatically,” Dr. Mathis Wackernagel, CEO of the Global Footprint Network and co-creator of the Ecological Footprint, told AccuWeather.

Infographic - Sustainability

“It’s a very slow-moving issue with high inertia, which also means we need to address it early enough to see that we’re off track.”

Wackernagel likened the rate at which we’re using Earth’s resources to the difference between a speedboat and a supertanker.

“You can turn the speedboat around on a dime, but with a supertanker, you need to think ahead much more,” he said. “Our resource demand is more similar to a supertanker – very big.”

Each year, the Global Footprint Network aims to raise awareness about global ecological overshoot, which is the world’s ecological deficit, through its Earth Overshoot Day campaign.

“If you say that people are becoming more abundant and resources are getting less abundant, the relative significance in the overall equation of resources over labor will become more important,” Wackernagel said. “So, labor will get cheaper and resources will get more expensive. Are you ready for that?”

“We want to help people avoid being surprised so they can make good choices for their own planning,” Wackernagel added. “Everyone needs to decide for themselves whether it’s relevant or not.”

According to the Global Footprint Network, by 2020, human demand on the planet’s ecosystems will likely exceed what nature is able to regenerate by 75 percent.

“Resources are not that different from money budgets; it’s about our choices,” Wackernagel said. “We can react to it, or we can choose not to react to it; there are different consequences.”

RELATED:

2017 shatters global climate records including highest sea levels, hottest year without El Niño
The property value of your coastal home may drop significantly as rising seas inch closer

The problem has arisen from the fact that many countries’ ecological footprints exceed their biocapacities, meaning that they now run on an ecological deficit.

In 2017, Ecological Deficit Day in the U.S. fell on June 10, according the Global Footprint Network.

“Earth Overshoot Day really draws attention to the stress that we’re putting on the planet and highlights the ways that we can start to bring our footprints back into balance,” Feldstein said.

“We need to recognize that we can’t keep expecting infinite growth on a finite planet,” she said. “By taking actions like choosing plant-based foods; eating less meat and dairy; shifting to renewable, wildlife-friendly energy; and by making sure that everybody has the tools to choose if and when they want to grow their families, we can start to move the date.”

The Global Footprint Network has stated that the damage can be reversed, and that pushing the date back about five days annually would get the Earth out of overshoot by 2050.

In other words, the global population would return to using the resources of only one planet by that time.

Report a Typo

Weather News

video

Huge dust storm shrouds Las Vegas

Jul. 2, 2025
video

Fallen trees during storm kill Delaware driver

Jul. 2, 2025
video

Towering waterspout hovers near Ohio’s lakeshore

Jul. 2, 2025
Show more Show less Chevron down

Topics

AccuWeather Early

Hurricane Center

Top Stories

Trending Today

Astronomy

Heat

Climate

Health

Recreation

In Memoriam

Case Studies

Blogs & Webinars

Top Stories

Weather Forecasts

Storms to spark on July 4th in parts of the Plains and Southeast

8 hours ago

Weather News

9-year-old dies in hot car outside mother's Texas workplace

14 hours ago

Weather News

Tropical trouble could stir near Southeast beaches around 4th of July

4 hours ago

Weather News

Alabama teen in ICU after lightning strike hits boat, causing burns an...

12 hours ago

Weather News

Storm chaser stages whirlwind proposal with real tornado

1 day ago

More Stories

Featured Stories

Weather News

‘Shark Whisperer’ swims its way into our shark obsession

7 hours ago

Travel

Fourth of July gas hasn’t been this cheap since 2021

1 day ago

Weather News

What makes fireworks burst with vibrant colors?

6 days ago

Health

'Inverse' vaccines may hold key to challenge autoimmune diseases

2 days ago

Weather News

World’s most liveable city for 2025 revealed

1 week ago

AccuWeather Weather News 2018 Earth Overshoot Day: We've just exhausted a year’s worth of the planet's resources
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
© 2025 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | About Your Privacy Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

...

...

...