Earth Overshoot Day is computed 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 a year:
(Planet’s Biocapacity / Humanity’s Ecological Footprint) x 365 = Earth Overshoot Day. In 2023,
Earth Overshoot Day falls on August 2. Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity has
exhausted nature's budget for the year.
( Resourse: National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts, 2023 Edition)
 ( Resourse: National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts, 2022 Edition)

Earth had hottest three-month period on record, with unprecedented sea

surface temperatures and much extreme weather
It was the hottest August on record – by a large margin – and the second hottest ever month after
July 2023, August as a whole is estimated to have been around 1.5°C warmer than the
preindustrial average for 1850-1900.
 ( Resourse: the European Union-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) implemented
by ECMWF)

The 30 warmest months 2002-2023

Our planet has just endured a season of simmering -- the hottest summer on record. Climate breakdown
has begun. Scientists have long warned what our fossil fuel addiction will unleash.
 ( Resourse: Global-mean surface air temperatures from ERA5, C3S/ European Centre for
Medium-Range Weather Forecasts )

Yearly ice gains or losses (bars) from the mountain glaciers

In July, a 14-day heatwave swept through western Europe. A weather station in England
recorded a temperature of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C) for the first time ever. The extreme high
summer temperatures over Europe resulted in unprecedented melting of glaciers
 ( Resourse: NOAA Climate.gov graphic, adapted from Figure 2.15 in State of the Climate in 2022)

Warming trends continued across the globe

2022 was the warmest La Nina year on record, surpassing the previous record set in 2021. With
the re-emergence of El Nino in 2023, globally-averaged temperatures this year are expected to
exceed those observed in 2022. A range of scientific analyses indicate that the annual global
surface temperature was 0.45 to 0.54 of a degree F (0.25 to 0.30 of a degree C) above the 1991–
2020 average. This places 2022 among the six warmest years since records began in the mid-to-
late 1800s.
 ( Resourse: NOAA Climate.gov image, adapted from Figure 2.1a in State of the Climate in 2022. )

=> Solution of The Earth Commission

The Earth Commission team has developed the idea of ‘planetary boundaries’, first set out in
an influential 2009 paper that defined a set of interlinked thresholds that it said would ensure a
‘safe operating space for humanity’, in which it rejected ‘human exceptionalism’ by focusing on
all species and ecosystems.

While the ‘safe boundaries’ identified by the study maintain and enhance the Earth system’s
stability and resilience, the ‘just boundaries’ are the limits that protect people from significant
harm.

The Earth Systems Boundaries will underpin new science-based targets for businesses, cities and
governments. ‘Stewardship of the global commons has never been more urgent or important,’

(Resourse: Earth Commission)