abdulhakeem
17-11-07, 10:38 AM
Ecological Debt Day Comes and Goes in the Blink of an Eye
By Joshua S Hill • October 11, 2007
You know, I really tried! My editor asked me to make sure that I wasn’t too negative or pessimistic, and I tried for a whole week. But it all come crashing down on me this past Saturday, and there is nothing to do at the moment then to revert to my natural disposition.
Ecological Debt Day
But there is due cause as well, and not just a trend of over 15 years of such negativity driving this position. On Saturday, the 6th of October, we passed our Ecological Debt Day.
Now I didn’t know what Ecological Debt Day was either, until today, so let me share.
Each year, our planet needs to provide a certain amount of resources for us to consume. In theory, we should not go through all of that in a year, but we do. In fact, ever since we started living beyond our means back in the 1980s, the time at which we use up our natural resources has come ever earlier.
So, as you will have guessed, Ecological Debt Day is the day on which we use up the resources for one year, and start eating into the next year’s… literally. It’s the day we start living beyond our ecological means.
The calculations made by the Global Footprint Network are relatively easily explained, but I’ll let them do it:
Each year Global Footprint Network calculates humanity’s Ecological Footprint (its demand on cropland, pasture, forests and fisheries) and compares it with global biocapacity (the ability of these ecosystems to generate resources and absorb wastes). Ecological Footprint accounting can be used to determine the exact date we, as a global community, go into ecological overshoot, using more than the planet can regenerate in a year. On Ecological Debt Day, we go into global overshoot for a given year and begin contributing to our global ecological debt, which has been accumulating since we first went into overshoot in the 1980s.
Ecological Overshoot
The "Overshoot" they mention is the demand placed upon the earth to reproduce more than it can. Such an overshoot leads to the depletion of Earth’s life-supporting natural capacity, and a subsequent build-up of waste.
As of this year, we are currently demanding of our planet what we should be demanding of 1.3 planet earths. The overshoot stat is similar, showing that we use 30% more than nature can regularly regenerate in the same year. In simpler terms, it would take 1 year and 3 months for the Earth to regenerate what is being used in one year.
The "how" is relatively easy to guess as well: deforestation, overfishing, etc.
Chinadependance
Some truly terrifying stats emerge when we look at individual countries’ own ecological debts. For example, if every country on Earth had the same consumption rates as the United States, it would take 5.3 planet earths to support them; similarly, it is 3.1 for France and Britain, 3.0 for Spain, 2.5 for Germany and 2.4 for Japan.
So why is it that countries like China get the brunt of our anger when it comes to the failing ecosystem we call home? Why is it that, when countries like the US are consuming our resources as if they were candy, we would use .9 of a planet if we were to match China’s standard rate of consumption, instead of 5.3?
In reality, per person, China’s greenhouse gas emissions are a fraction of what they are in Europe and the United States. Another point to consider is that China’s greenhouse emissions would not be nearly so high if it weren’t for the fact that industrialized Western nations continually demand an increase in the output of China’s factories.
This is known as Chinadependance, and the name describes it perfectly.
Responsibility
We are doubly responsible then, not only for our own lax attitude and consumption, but for also creating an untenable situation for countries like China. And the blame settles heavier on our shoulders by the year, with rising imports from China increasing not only the economic impact, but the environmental impact as well. I’ll explain.
Consider the fact that the more we demand of China to supply us, the more they have to produce, and the heavier the shipments. This pushes up the emissions of those ships and planes that deliver the goods. We are triply responsible, then, for the ever weakening state of our environment; there is no way we can look away from that.
But the simple fact is that humans are causing damage to the environment. That our Ecological Debt Day continues to inch forward is simple proof of that, and not up for debate. Just as the melting Arctic ice is not up for debate: it has happened, and all the bickering and shouting in the world will not change that fact.
You, Me, and the Next-Door Neighbor
So I’ll end this with an attempt to swing back in line with my editor Jeff’s request for me to make this relevant to all of us.
I know that it is hard to see our input as meaning much to the larger equation. Spinning composts, ‘No Trash Weeks’ and the good old "Speak to your congressman/councilman/etc" are all good and well, but what do they really add in the long run?
It is the long run that we are talking about.
Sadly, it is unlikely that you or I will see any real results in our lifetimes. The saddest bit about that is that I’m only 23, and I’m very well aware that it is my kids, and my kids’ kids that we are doing this for.
Compost everything in sight, and make sure your cat has a bell on so there are no unfortunate accidents. Minimize your own trash, and get your friends, family and neighbors to do the same thing. Speak to your politicians: let them know that you want them to do something meaningful.
There are, of course, bigger things that we can all do, too. The Billion Trees initiative started by the UN, Greenpeace, WWF and other environmental groups all want your help. Whether you are young or old, an administrator or a lawyer, you can help somewhere. And slowly, ever so slowly, we’re going to win this battle, because there are people like us who want to help fix the world.
Who knows — maybe we will see change in our lifetimes. Maybe in a decade or two, our Ecological Debt Day will be pushed back, rather than forward.
http://joshuashill.greenoptions.com/2007/10/11/ecological-debt-day-comes-and-goes-in-the-blink-of-an-eye/
By Joshua S Hill • October 11, 2007
You know, I really tried! My editor asked me to make sure that I wasn’t too negative or pessimistic, and I tried for a whole week. But it all come crashing down on me this past Saturday, and there is nothing to do at the moment then to revert to my natural disposition.
Ecological Debt Day
But there is due cause as well, and not just a trend of over 15 years of such negativity driving this position. On Saturday, the 6th of October, we passed our Ecological Debt Day.
Now I didn’t know what Ecological Debt Day was either, until today, so let me share.
Each year, our planet needs to provide a certain amount of resources for us to consume. In theory, we should not go through all of that in a year, but we do. In fact, ever since we started living beyond our means back in the 1980s, the time at which we use up our natural resources has come ever earlier.
So, as you will have guessed, Ecological Debt Day is the day on which we use up the resources for one year, and start eating into the next year’s… literally. It’s the day we start living beyond our ecological means.
The calculations made by the Global Footprint Network are relatively easily explained, but I’ll let them do it:
Each year Global Footprint Network calculates humanity’s Ecological Footprint (its demand on cropland, pasture, forests and fisheries) and compares it with global biocapacity (the ability of these ecosystems to generate resources and absorb wastes). Ecological Footprint accounting can be used to determine the exact date we, as a global community, go into ecological overshoot, using more than the planet can regenerate in a year. On Ecological Debt Day, we go into global overshoot for a given year and begin contributing to our global ecological debt, which has been accumulating since we first went into overshoot in the 1980s.
Ecological Overshoot
The "Overshoot" they mention is the demand placed upon the earth to reproduce more than it can. Such an overshoot leads to the depletion of Earth’s life-supporting natural capacity, and a subsequent build-up of waste.
As of this year, we are currently demanding of our planet what we should be demanding of 1.3 planet earths. The overshoot stat is similar, showing that we use 30% more than nature can regularly regenerate in the same year. In simpler terms, it would take 1 year and 3 months for the Earth to regenerate what is being used in one year.
The "how" is relatively easy to guess as well: deforestation, overfishing, etc.
Chinadependance
Some truly terrifying stats emerge when we look at individual countries’ own ecological debts. For example, if every country on Earth had the same consumption rates as the United States, it would take 5.3 planet earths to support them; similarly, it is 3.1 for France and Britain, 3.0 for Spain, 2.5 for Germany and 2.4 for Japan.
So why is it that countries like China get the brunt of our anger when it comes to the failing ecosystem we call home? Why is it that, when countries like the US are consuming our resources as if they were candy, we would use .9 of a planet if we were to match China’s standard rate of consumption, instead of 5.3?
In reality, per person, China’s greenhouse gas emissions are a fraction of what they are in Europe and the United States. Another point to consider is that China’s greenhouse emissions would not be nearly so high if it weren’t for the fact that industrialized Western nations continually demand an increase in the output of China’s factories.
This is known as Chinadependance, and the name describes it perfectly.
Responsibility
We are doubly responsible then, not only for our own lax attitude and consumption, but for also creating an untenable situation for countries like China. And the blame settles heavier on our shoulders by the year, with rising imports from China increasing not only the economic impact, but the environmental impact as well. I’ll explain.
Consider the fact that the more we demand of China to supply us, the more they have to produce, and the heavier the shipments. This pushes up the emissions of those ships and planes that deliver the goods. We are triply responsible, then, for the ever weakening state of our environment; there is no way we can look away from that.
But the simple fact is that humans are causing damage to the environment. That our Ecological Debt Day continues to inch forward is simple proof of that, and not up for debate. Just as the melting Arctic ice is not up for debate: it has happened, and all the bickering and shouting in the world will not change that fact.
You, Me, and the Next-Door Neighbor
So I’ll end this with an attempt to swing back in line with my editor Jeff’s request for me to make this relevant to all of us.
I know that it is hard to see our input as meaning much to the larger equation. Spinning composts, ‘No Trash Weeks’ and the good old "Speak to your congressman/councilman/etc" are all good and well, but what do they really add in the long run?
It is the long run that we are talking about.
Sadly, it is unlikely that you or I will see any real results in our lifetimes. The saddest bit about that is that I’m only 23, and I’m very well aware that it is my kids, and my kids’ kids that we are doing this for.
Compost everything in sight, and make sure your cat has a bell on so there are no unfortunate accidents. Minimize your own trash, and get your friends, family and neighbors to do the same thing. Speak to your politicians: let them know that you want them to do something meaningful.
There are, of course, bigger things that we can all do, too. The Billion Trees initiative started by the UN, Greenpeace, WWF and other environmental groups all want your help. Whether you are young or old, an administrator or a lawyer, you can help somewhere. And slowly, ever so slowly, we’re going to win this battle, because there are people like us who want to help fix the world.
Who knows — maybe we will see change in our lifetimes. Maybe in a decade or two, our Ecological Debt Day will be pushed back, rather than forward.
http://joshuashill.greenoptions.com/2007/10/11/ecological-debt-day-comes-and-goes-in-the-blink-of-an-eye/