海角大神

Earth Overshoot Day, also known as Ecological Debt Day, marks the date each year when we鈥檝e used up as many natural resources as Earth can regenerate in a single year.聽

This year, it falls on Monday, August 8: the earliest date yet.

The timing of Earth Overshoot Day is calculated by international think tank Global Footprint Network.

"Earth Overshoot Day is computed by (the amount of ecological resources Earth is able to generate that year) by humanity鈥檚 Ecological Footprint (humanity鈥檚 demand for that year),"聽according to the Global Footprint Network website. "This ratio is multiplied by 365 to get the date when Earth Overshoot Day is reached."

Since its inception, the day has been creeping forward slowly but steadily; in 2000, Earth Overshoot Day fell in late September. Last year, it fell on August 13.聽

The Global Footprint Network聽聽the early date to high rates of carbon dioxide emittance, depletion of fisheries, and forest harvestation. It calculates that聽the carbon footprint makes up 60 percent of humanity鈥檚 total ecological footprint.

But there is some indication of improvement: The rate at which the day moves up on the calendar has slowed. When the project was established in the early 1970s, the day moved up at an average of three days per year. Now, aside from the jump between 2015 and 2016, the to less than one day per year over the past five years, Time reports.聽

The day鈥檚 creators are hopeful that the trend could someday reverse altogether. In a news release, the organization calls for adherence to the goals set by the Paris climate agreement, saying that the carbon footprint could fall to zero by 2050.聽

"Such a comes with many advantages, and making it happen takes effort,"聽said Mathis Wackernagel, co-founder and chief executive officer of Global Footprint Network, in the release. "The good news is that it is possible with current technology, and financially advantageous with overall benefits exceeding costs ... The only resource we still need more of is political will."聽