Pandemic sets back on Earth Overload Day

Search found 9.3% reduction in humanity's ecological footprint by 2020. Earth Overload Day this year is on August 22nd

earth overload day 2020

Image of Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash

The new coronavirus pandemic has delayed the arrival of Earth Overload Day. According to researchers, this is because the rate at which humanity consumes Earth's resources has dramatically decreased as a result of Covid-19.

  • What is biocapacity?

Consequently, the Earth Overshoot Day , also known as Earth Overload Day , moved back more than three weeks from 2019 to 2020. Last year, the date was hit on July 29th, and this year only on August 22nd.

The research conducted by Global Footprint Network showed that the lockdown led to a 9.3% reduction in humanity's ecological footprint compared to the same period last year. However, to continue consuming ecological resources at the current rate, the equivalent of 1.6 Earths would still be needed.

  • What are planetary boundaries?

This three-week delay between the dates of the Earth Overload Day 2019 and 2020 represents the biggest single-year change since the beginning of overshoot in the 1970s. Since then, rising populations and rising levels of per capita consumption have moved Earth Overload Day ever closer to the beginning of the year, with the date arriving in July by the first time in 2019.

The study found that there was a large drop in CO2 emissions due to the pandemic (down 14.5% compared to the same period last year) and in commercial forestry (down 8.4% compared to 2019).



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