This week’s ‘Earth Overshoot Day’ marked the date our consumption outgrew our natural resources

We’re not even nine months into 2015, but by Wednesday humans had consumed an entire year’s worth of natural resources since Jan. 1, according to the Global Footprint Network.

To determine the precise day, known as Earth Overshoot Day, researchers estimate the number of biologically productive acres across the globe. This land absorbs damaging actions human take against the environment, such as the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The researchers then calculate the amount of land humans would need to make up for all those damaging actions. Earth Overshoot Day is the day when human demand on Earth exceeds the planet’s ability to absorb it. Read more.