What Are We Doing

August 8, 2016 was Earth Overshoot Day this year. What does that mean? It means that with over four months left in the year mankind has used up the amount of biodiversity the Earth can produce in a year. We are now borrowing from our future. Earth Overshoot Day arrived five days earlier than it did last year. It is reasonable to ask how the date is calculated. It is based on our demand for resources like crop land, livestock, fish stock, use of forests for timber, space used for urban infrastructure and carbon emissions. We began going in debt in the 1970's and as a point of reference Earth Overshoot Day in 1971 was December 24th. We are now at the point where we are using 1.6 Earths per year. If we do not change our ways by 2030 we will be sing the equivalent of two Earths. The problem is we only have one. 

I write about this because it bothers me. Not so much because I'm concerned about how it may affect me. I'm an old man. I suspect before things get too bad my time on Earth will be over. I have children and grandchildren. I don't wonder any more what kind of Earth we will leave them. We are in southern Georgia during the hottest summer on record. Savannah is on its 57th consecutive day with a high temperature above 90 degrees. It appears based on the current weather forecast that trend will continue for at least another week. I understand that weather short term is not climate change. I do not understand how folks can look at long term global warming and deny it is happening. In the kindest terms I can manage, those who deny climate change and mankind's role in it, are idiots. So what can we do? 

Eat less meat especially beef. It takes 14 times more land to produce 1 ton of beef as it does to produce 1 ton of grain. I like a good steak or hamburger but not so much that I'm willing to destroy the Earth to have one. 

Lower your electrical consumption. I read an article recently that indicated that all the electric power used in the United States could be produced by solar power by setting aside six tents of one percent of our land for that purpose. Zero emissions. I understand it would adversely impact those who mine coal and produce oil. If we don't change there will be little demand for what they produce because there will be few people left to use them. 

Reduce paper waste. In the United States alone one billion trees worth of paper are thrown away each year. Recycle paper, use recycled paper, use email, just do whatever you can to reduce paper waste. 

Use alternate transportation like walking or biking when possible. Utilize public transportation. 

The dinosaurs were destroyed by an asteroid. They ruled the Earth for millions of years. Mankind has been dominate on this planet for much less than a million years. I would argue less than 10,000 years. We are, through our actions and ignorance, destroying our world. We are not as smart as we think we are. The Earth will go on. Man may become another failed evolutionary pathway. We need to change now. We can sit back and think our individual actions will have no effect. It will contribute to our demise. The clock is ticking. The timer is headed for zero. Do something.