Thursday is this year's Earth Overshoot Day — a campaign to raise awareness about sustainable practices and the consumption of the planet’s resources by marking the day when people have used up all the biological resources Earth can make in a year.
This year is tied for the fastest people depleted a year’s worth of Earth’s resources, according to Earth Overshoot Day organizers.
That concerns Morse Reese, a trained forester in Centre County and author of the environmental book, “The Forbidden Subject."
“Last year it was July 29. We’ve done it a day quicker this year. And that means that the Earth cannot keep producing all the resources we use and finally, we’ll just overwhelm it and run out,” Reese said.
That includes resources like water, natural gas and coal.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protectionsays climate change is contributing to the state’s higher temperatures, increased flooding and landslides and agricultural losses. Reese said he has noticed the adverse effects of unsustainable practices in Pennsylvania.
“The American Chestnut used to cover the entire eastern United States. There are very few of them left alive," Reese said.
Earth Overshoot Days are also calculated by country. This year, the United States is tied with Canada and the United Arab Emirates as the third-fastest country to reach its Earth Overshoot Day.