We've already consumed all of Earth's resources for 2015

To clarify, ShortList hasn't used up all the Earth's resources for the year - we left a computer on overnight once but we don't think it was that power hungry.

No, this is news that all of humanity has used up the planet's "biocapacity budget" for 2015. We're essentially consuming things like food and fuel quicker than it takes us to produce it.

Meaning we're in a vicious cycle where we're changing ourselves and we could be about to hit tipping point, also known as empty. 

According to the Global Footprint Network's best estimates, the 'Earth Overshoot Day' occurred on 13 August - far earlier in the calendar year than ever before. Back in 2000, we hit it in mid October. Now, we've reached a point where it would take 1.6 Earth's to support humanity's demands on nature - a number that doesn't include the requirements of other species.

"Humanity’s carbon footprint alone more than doubled since the early 1970s, when the world went into ecological overshoot," said Mathis Wackernagel, president of the Global Footprint Network. "It remains the fastest growing component of the widening gap between the ecological footprint and the planet’s biocapacity."

At the current rate of population growth (an increase of 95 percent since 1970) and resource use, Earth Overshoot Day will occur on 28 June by 2030. The push from the Global Footprint Network is to see carbon emission levels reduced by 30 percent by 2030, in line with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's recommendations. Should we manage that, Overshoot Day would be pushed back to 16 September.

For an idea of how to reduce your carbon footprint, visit the Overshoot Day website for some testimonies and tips.