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Climate change is a glaring symptom of a deeper systemic issue: ecological overshoot, where human consumption outpaces the Earth's ability to regenerate. Overshoot is an inherently unstable state that cannot persist indefinitely. [17]
Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) is the calculated illustrative calendar date on which humanity's resource consumption for the year exceeds Earth’s capacity to regenerate those resources that year. In 2024, it fell on 1 August. [ 2 ]
For people, "overshoot" is that portion of their demand or ecological footprint which must be eliminated to be sustainable, or the delta between a sustainable population and what we currently have. [1] [2] Excessive demand leading to overshoot is driven by both consumption and population. [3] Population decline due to overshoot is known as ...
Overexploitation, also called overharvesting or ecological overshoot, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. [2] Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish.
Human overpopulation (or human population overshoot) is the idea that human populations may become too large to be sustained by their environment or resources in the long term. The topic is usually discussed in the context of world population , though it may concern individual nations, regions, and cities.
Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change, a 1980 book by William R. Catton, Jr. Ecological overshoot, when the demands made on a natural ecosystem exceed its regenerative capacity; Overshoot (population), when a population exceeds the environment's carrying capacity; Overshoot (signal), when a signal exceeds its steady state value
We are operating in overshoot. [68] The concept of ‘ecological overshoot’ can be seen as equivalent to exceeding human carrying capacity. [69] [64] According to the most recent calculations from Global Footprint Network, most of the world's residents live in countries in ecological overshoot (see the map on the right).
In a 2021 guest post titled, "Overshoot: Where We Now Stand," Michael Dowd wrote that Catton's book is "the single most important book I have ever read." [24] He also quotes Richard Heinberg saying, "Climate change is not our biggest problem; overshoot is. Global warming is but a symptom of ecological overshoot."