What is Earth Overshoot Day?
- Earth Overshoot Day is the day that humanity’s demand for ecological resources exceeds the resources Earth can regenerate within that year
- Country Overshoot Day marks the date when Earth Overshoot Day would fall if all of humanity lived like a particular country
How It’s Calculated
Here’s an example of how Country Overshoot Day was calculated for Switzerland:
- Switzerland’s ecological footprint: 4.25 global hectares (gha) per person
- Global biocapacity: 1.48 gha per person
Based on these numbers, humanity would need 2.87 Earths (4.25 divided by 1.48) to support itself if everyone lived like the Swiss.
