Happy§ Earth Overshoot Day! Time to celebrate: we’re now using almost three-quarters of ‘planet B’.
Shame it doesn’t exist.
Back in 2014, I wrote a set of edicts I would apply ‘If I ruled the world‘. One of those (#4) was:
If it should ever happen that Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) in any year is determined to occur later in the year than the previous year’s EOD, a global day of rejoicing shall be proclaimed on that day.
*The calculation of Earth Overshoot Day 2020 reflects the initial drop in resource use in the first half of the year due to pandemic-induced lockdowns. All other years assume a constant rate of resource use throughout the year.
Source: earthovershootday.org
Well, it looks like we should have had a party last year. Only we couldn’t, of course, due to the very pandemic-induced lockdowns that reduced the global resource use. Ironic.
This year, it looks like we’re back on track, ravaging the planet like never before. Yay, us.
§ Everything’s relative.
Wibble 
Pendantry, resources exist out there in the solar system to be harvested and in the oceans. Additionally, we are still doing a poor job of recycling on this planet. Theoretically, nearly 100% of what we throw out can be repurposed in one fashion or another and I’d be surprised if we pass 20% usage of such material. That means WASTE!
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So… our hopes rest upon (although we don’t yet have the technology to do it) being able to rape the rest of the solar system in the same way that we’re currently doing to the Earth… and when solar system resources run out — then what? Hope that we can figure out interstellar travel and ravage the entire galaxy, like a horde of locusts?
‘Recycling’ is a great concept. Here in the UK the government makes a big song and dance about it… and yet we actually recycle very little (less than 10% of our plastic waste is recycled, for instance, despite the government’s claims that half of it is).
We desperately need a circular economy. Such a pity that the current crop of economists are wedded to waste.
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It depends how much is out there in space. If we combine recycling with a large enough body of ores in the asteroid belt, we should be good to go for a long time to come.
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Sorry, but I am tired of pixie dust bullshit. They’ve been lying to us about plastic recycling for 50 years. The same people who are telling you that mining the asteroid belt will solve our problems.
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Well said, Leavergirl. The unrealistic optimism of the technophiliacs will be the death of us :(
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Well, just quickly eyeballing it, it appears that unless we make some drastic changes, the planet will be largely unable to support the current level of humans in about the next 30 years. Of course, that doesn’t take into consideration the fact that a large part of the planet is burning and a large part flooding, nor does it account for the other effects of climate change, such as unbearably hot temperatures. So … well … it’s been nice knowing you all! ‘Scuse me now while I go write a letter to whatever species comes next to let them know what happened and why.
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Send them big wet sloppy kisses from me, Jill!
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You got it!
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Wow We are stupid
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Laugh, no matter what happens
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Code Red for climate change and the majority of people on this glorious planet don’t care enough to do their part. I feel for the next few generations….
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As do I.
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Logic seems not to be a desired commodity for most. Not sure why.
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I suspect that a lot of it has to do with the various biases; distorting lenses through which we all, including yours truly, perceive the universe. What may seem ‘logical’ to one can seem completely the opposite to another. Take, oh, I don’t know, um, assuming you can get perfectly drinkable fresh water from a tap — free! — buying water in plastic bottles instead. That seems totally bonkers and illogical to me, but millions of folks do it every day. Are they mad? (I think so, but there’s always a chance that I’m the one with the screw loose.)
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And that is precisely why I enjoy debating. While we all have different kinds of ‘logic,’ I don’t think that all of them are equal. That’s probably somewhat biased. I might not agree with you on every single thing but if you explain your logic, I will at least respect you for that. If you can’t explain your actions in a logical way then we have a problem.
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The problem I all too often find is that some folks refuse to engage in logical argument. I had one persistent bugger (sorry, but that’s the kindest term I can think of to describe him) on Wibble recently; clearly a climate change denier, wittering on about ‘honesty’ and ‘free speech’ and the usual ‘do your own research and you’ll find The Truth’ and suchlike, but he never offered a single shred of evidence to back up his claims that global warming was all ‘lies’. It was all assertions and innuendo. In the end I felt I had no choice but to throw all of his comments into the trash.
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