Friday, April 21, 2006

Overshoot Day in the UK -- April 16, 2006

As of Sunday April 16, the UK used up the renewable biocapacity within its borders and began to import biocapacity from the rest of the world. This means that for the remainder of 2006, the maintenance of the UK's economy is dependent on ecosystem services from other countries. See this great new New Economics Foundation report for more info.

FYI, Overshoot Day in the US is June 27. World Overshoot Day is October 23.

How can there be World Overshoot Day, since there are no extra-terrestrial sources of biocapacity to import from? It is possible since, globally, we are drawing down our stocks of renewable natural resources--forests are shrinking, fisheries are collapsing, agricultural lands are being degraded, CO2 is building up in the atmosphere, cities are sprawling, etc.

How long can the world be in Overshoot, before we begin to experience catastrophic ecosystem failures? Maybe 30 years.

How long have we been in Overshoot already? About 20 years.

What are you doing to help the transition to sustianability?

Monday, April 03, 2006

New Chomsky book, interview

Noam was interviewed extensively on DemocracyNow! Friday March 31st and Monday April 3rd.

He discussed, among other things, his new book Failed States: the Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy, sure to be a good read.