Finite Earth

Despite massive landscapes and endless blue, our planet is limited in its resources and capabilities to support its inhabitants. According to the  Global Footprint Network, "Humanity uses the equivalent of 1.5 planets to provide the resources we use and absorb our waste. This means it now takes the Earth one year and six months to regenerate what we use in a year. Moderate UN scenarios suggest that if current population and consumption trends continue, by the 2030s, we will need the equivalent of two Earths to support us. And of course, we only have one. Turning resources into waste faster than waste can be turned back into resources puts us in global ecological overshoot, depleting the very resources on which human life and biodiversity depend." As Annie Leonard puts it, "It seems impossible that we are consuming an amount equivalent to more than the total resources produced by the planet each year. In fact, it's only possible because the planet's been around much longer than we have and has had time to accumulate extra." All over the world we are witnessing the effects of using more resources than the Earth can provide in the form of diminishing forest cover, disappearing coral reefs, collapsing fisheries , biodiversity decline, increasing greenhouse gases, depleting fresh water systems, acidifying oceans, disease, famine, mass migrations, depleting arable land, resource conflicts and wars, just to name some of the more noticeable effects. Traditionally, when faced with the challenge of resource depletion, countries and industries would simply focus their needs elsewhere, but those who can no longer afford or discover such trajectories, such as the fishing and oil industry, are left to cope with limited resources or pursue unconventional methods, which can create a disproportionate impact on the poor, and the ones that can are finding that even the furthest and deepest corners of the Earth are being exploited, leaving fewer and fewer resources for future generations. The only true, long-term solution to resource depletion is pursuing and measuring sustainability. Learn more.

What happens when an infinite-growth economy runs into a finite planet?
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If everyone lived the lifestyle of the average American we would need 5 planets. How many planets does it take to support your lifestyle?

"The Living Planet Report is the world's leading, science-based analysis on the health of our only planet and the impact of human activity. Its key finding? Humanity's demands exceed our planet's capacity to sustain us. That is, we ask for more than what we have. Nature is the basis of our well-being and our prosperity. Biodiversity has declined globally by around 30 percent between 1970 and 2008; by 60 percent in the tropics. demand on natural resources has doubled since 1966 and we are currently using the equivalent of 1.5 planets to support our activities. High-income countries have a footprint five times greater than that of low-income countries. Areas of high biodiversity provide important ecosystem services such as carbon storage, fuel wood, freshwater flow and marine fish stocks. “Business as usual” projections estimate
 that we will need the equivalent of two planets by 2030 
to meet our annual demands. Natural capital - biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services – must be preserved and, where necessary, restored as the foundation of human economies and societies." ~ WWF