--- title: Earth Overshoot Day: Humans Use Natural Resources For 2016 description: Monday marks Earth Overshoot Day, the date when humanity will have used up nature’s budget for the entire year canonical: https://time.com/4443413/earth-overshoot-day-natural-resources-budget-used/ author: Kate Samuelson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-08T17:24:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T10:00:25.874Z article:section: Science og:title: Humanity's Used Up A Year's Natural Resources Budget Faster Than Ever og:description: It's Earth Overshoot Day og:url: https://time.com/4443413/earth-overshoot-day-natural-resources-budget-used/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt735050f70340a6a0/6988a187f887dc6567e96fe6/earth-overshoot-day-2016.png?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Earth Overshoot Day 2016 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Humanity's Used Up A Year's Natural Resources Budget Faster Than Ever twitter:description: It's Earth Overshoot Day twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt735050f70340a6a0/6988a187f887dc6567e96fe6/earth-overshoot-day-2016.png?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Humanity's Used Up A Year's Natural Resources Budget Faster Than Ever by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Aug 8, 2016 5:24 PM UTC  Today is Earth Overshoot Day, which marks the date when humanity will have used up nature’s budget for the entire year - according to data from the Global Footprint Network Today is Earth Overshoot Day, which marks the date when humanity will have used up nature’s budget for the entire year - according to data from the Global Footprint NetworkGlobal Footprint Network by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Aug 8, 2016 5:24 PM UTC Monday is [Earth Overshoot Day](http://time.com/3997388/earth-overshoot-day-2015/), which marks the date mankind consumes its budget of natural resources for the entire year, according to data from the Global Footprint Network. Using more natural resources than what Earth can regenerate in a year is possible because humans emit more [carbon dioxide](http://time.com/116131/un-co2-levels-greenhouse-gases/) into the atmosphere than our oceans and forests can absorb, and we deplete fisheries and harvest forests more quickly than they can reproduce and regrow. International think tank the Global Footprint Network determines the date of the overshoot by dividing the planet’s biocapacity (the amount of ecological resources Earth is able to generate that year), by humanity’s ecological footprint (humanity’s demand for that year) and multiplying by 365, the number of days in that year. As the global population has grown and consumption has increased, Earth Overshoot Day has moved from late September in the year 2000, to Aug. 8 this year. However, the rate at which Earth Overshoot Day has moved up on the calendar has slowed to less than one day a year on average in the past five years, compared to an average of three days a year since the overshoot project began in the early 1970s. Despite this, last year’s Earth Overshoot Day was six days later, on Aug. 14. 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