In the story of Creation, as told in the Bible's Book of Genesis, God gave human beings dominion over all creations—over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. But are we being responsible stewards of God's creation?
Based on an analysis of the demands of the world's population conducted by the independent think tank Global Footprint Network (GFN), human beings have already used up all of the supply of Earth's resources for this year, with still four months left in 2015.
This has led the group to declare August 13 as this year's "Earth Overshoot Day," or the day when the total combined consumption of all human activity on Earth in a year goes beyond the planet's ability to replenish these resources for that year. This date is six days earlier than last year.
Dr. Mathis Wackernagel of the independent think tank that made this research explained how they were able to come up with the "Earth Overshoot Day" annually.
"It's quite simple. We look at all the resource demands of humanity that compete for space, like food, fibre, timber, et cetera, then we look at how much area is needed to provide those services and how much productive surface is available," Wackernagel said.
GFN estimates that the current world population consumes the resources of 1.6 Earths every year. The group also notes that developed countries reach their "overshoot" day earlier compared to developing countries.
"The big problem is not that our deficit is getting bigger, it is that it cannot be maintained in the long-run. Even though we are in a deficit equation we are not taking measures to take us in the right direction," Wackernagel said.
Given this, the researcher challenged countries around the world to address the Earth's growing ecological deficit.
"The problem is psychological – somehow we are missing this basic physical law. It is obvious to children, but for 98 percent of economic planners it is a minor risk not worth our attention. In the end the question is: Does it matter to the government?" the GFN researcher said.
