We’ve Already Spent All Of This Year’s Budget For Earth Resources

July 29, 2019 isn’t a global holiday, but it is apparently a day to remind us that we’ve profoundly messed up when it comes to saving the earth.

July 29 is this year’s Earth Overshoot Day, which, according to research organization Global Footprint Network, is the date when the world has used up all the resources it could potentially regenerate within that same year. This is the earliest in the year that Earth Overshoot Day has fallen since the independent think tank started the campaign in 2006. Worryingly still, their research indicates that we’ve been going “over budget” since the 1970s.

Humanity’s “ecological deficit” is defined by the research network as a measure of our ecological footprint—how much water, soil, and clean air we use. This year, we’re using up resources equivalent to 1.75 Earths.

“The costs of this global ecological overspending are becoming increasingly evident in the form of deforestation, soil erosion, biodiversity loss, or the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” Global Footprint Network said in a press release. And not that it should come as a surprise to any of us, “The latter leads to climate change and more frequent extreme weather events.”

If you dare to find out your own horrifying contribution to our shared catastrophe, Global Footprint Network has also devised a tool for you to check out your own ecological footprint.

If that inspires you to take action, the organisation has devised a comprehensive solution, and you may support their #MoveTheDate campaign to raise attention around the issue.