August 13 is 2015's Earth Overshoot Day, marking the point "when humanity's annual demand on nature exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year," think tank Global Footprint Network says. Beginning Friday, humanity will already be in debt for 2015.
Ecological Debt Day, as Earth Overshoot Day is also called, is calculated by dividing the amount of natural resources generated by Earth in a year by how much humanity consumes. That number is then multiplied by 365. In 1987, the overshoot date was December 19; in 2014, it was a week later than this year, landing on August 19. Not altering a course in sustainable spending would mean "using the resources equivalent to two planets by 2030, with Earth Overshoot Day moving up on the calendar to the end of June," the Global Footprint Network reports.
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