Simon

As of September 23 we humans have used all the resources our earth can produce this year. That means we are borrowing resources from 2009 and that we are literally consuming our children’s resources. And as each year passes Earth Overshoot Day happens earlier and earlier. Last year Earth Overshoot Day happened on October 6. Then we consumed 30% more natural resources than what the earth can reproduce under a whole year. Now in 2008 that number has increased with 10% as the Global Footprint Network expects us to use 140% of the Earths resources. "Globally, we now require the equivalent of 1.4 planets to support our lifestyles. But of course, we only have one Earth. The result is that our supply of natural resources -- like trees and fish -- continues to shrink, while our waste, primarily carbon dioxide, accumulates." Some countries contribute more to these numbers than others do. If everyone lived like a resident of the following countries we would need this many earths: United States 5.4 Earths Canada 4.2 Earths United Kingdom 3.1 Earths Germany 2.5 Earths Italy 2.2 Earths South Africa 1.4 Earths Argentina 1.2 Earths Costa Rica 1.1 Earths India 0.4 Earths What do you think? How can we manage to overcome our increasing consumption rate and overpopulation? And how can one personally contribute to ending the Overshoot Day?

Besides changing the climate and environment for people around the world the loss of Arctic sea ice is destroying the habitats for polar bears. Recently we reported about polar bears swimming to Iceland trying to find food and land. And now scientists are reporting that the starving polar bears are desperately resorting to killing and feeding on other polar bears as their natural habitats are rapidly being destroyed by man-made global warming. "The Arctic sea ice melt is a disaster for the polar bears," according to Kassie Siegel, staff attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity. "They are dependent on the Arctic sea ice for all of their essential behaviors, and as the ice melts and global warming transforms the Arctic, polar bears are starving, drowning, even resorting to cannibalism because they don't have access to their usual food sources." Scientists have noticed increasing reports of starving Arctic polar bears attacking and feeding on one another in recent years. In one documented 2004 incident in northern Alaska, a male bear broke into a female's den and killed her. Unfortunately there seems to be no light in the tunnel for the polar bears. A new preliminary report from NASA shows that the sea ice at the Arctic continues to disappear and that the ice-levels this year has reached the second-lowest level on record.

Letterman rants about global warming on his show in early September saying "We're Dead Meat". He also talks with Thomas Friedman about his new book titled "Hot, Flat, and Crowded - Why We Need a Green Revolution - And How it Can Renew America". Both video clips are worth checking out and can be found below:

The Guardian quotes a statement from the UK Met Office, one of the world's leading providers of environmental and weather-related services: "Anyone who thinks global warming has stopped has their head in the sand. The evidence is clear, the long-term trend in global temperatures is rising, and humans are largely responsible for this rise. Global warming does not mean that each year will be warmer than the last." Read more: Met Office says climate change deniers deluded

General Motors vice-chairman Bob Lutz is at it again. But this time he doesn't deny climate change, just the science. During an interview with comedian Stephen Colbert last week Bob Lutz was asked if climate change is being caused by "sunspots". He answered that "in the opinion of about 32,000 of the world's leading scientists, yes." These 32000 people are not "the world's leading scientists". They are, as DeSmogBlog puts it, "a self-selected group of people whose science credentials are modest or non-existent and who are led by the man who was big tobacco's leading apologist." Good job Bob Lutz, spreading global warming denialism while promoting an eco-friendly car. That's brightness! No wonder GM is in such a mess.