Tracking the ecological overshoot of the human economy.
Sustainability requires living within the regenerative capacity of the biosphere. In an attempt to measure the extent to which humanity satisfies this requirement, we use existing data to translate human demand on the environment into the area required for the production of food and other goods, together with the absorption of wastes. Our accounts indicate that human demand may well have exceeded the biosphere's regenerative capacity since the 1980s. According to this preliminary and exploratory assessment, humanity's load corresponded to 70% of the capacity of the global biosphere in 1961, and grew to 120% in 1999.
Wackernagel
Mathis
M
Redefining Progress, 1904 Franklin Street, 6th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612, USA. wackernagel@rprogress.org
Schulz
Niels B
NB
Deumling
Diana
D
Linares
Alejandro Callejas
AC
Jenkins
Martin
M
Kapos
Valerie
V
Monfreda
Chad
C
Loh
Jonathan
J
Myers
Norman
N
Norgaard
Richard
R
Randers
Jørgen
J
D000383:Agriculture / Q000191:economics; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D018534:Earth, Planet; D004467:Economics; D017753:Ecosystem; D005399:Fishes; D016468:Forestry / Q000191:economics; D005579:Fossil Fuels / Q000191:economics; D006798:Housing / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry / Q000191:economics; D009678:Nuclear Energy / Q000191:economics; D012038:Regeneration; D013997:Time Factors; D014186:Transportation / Q000191:economics
D005579:Fossil Fuels