A new report out by the European Environment Agency in coordination with Global Footprint Network estimates that humanity is consuming 23% more ecological resources than the earth is producing. This compares with their estimate of a 20% overshoot last year. In order to do this we are drawing down the ecosystem’s ability to produce in future years.

We are eating the seed corn.

The National Footprint Accounts use over 4,000 data points per year to calculate each country’s demand on nature and to asses its biological capacity. National accounts currently exist for over 150 countries in hectares and acres, for each year from 1961 to 2002.

As this figure shows, human demands upon the environment have been growing steadily and for the last decade have surpased the Earth’s capacity to support them.

footprint

The consumer economy is very literally going to kill us.

Something to think about this holiday season.