Humans will need resources of two earths by 2030

London Human demands on natural resources have doubled in under 50 years and are now outstripping what the planet can provide.

Consequently, at current rates of consumption of resources, humankind will need the capacity of two earths by 2030, according to the biennial Living Planet Report.

Wildlife in tropical countries is also under huge pressure, with populations of species falling by 60 percent in three decades.

And the report from the WWF, the Zoological Society of London and the Global Footprint Network said Britons are still consuming far more than the Earth can cope with, reports the Daily Mail.

If everyone lived such a lifestyle, humans would need 2.75 planets to survive, it warned.

The study authors looked at 8,000 populations of 2,500 species and studied the change in land use and water consumption across the globe.

Britain comes 31st in a list of countries based on their ‘ecological footprint’ – the amount of land and sea each person needs to provide the food, clothes and other products they consume and to absorb the carbon dioxide they emit.

Ireland has the 10th highest ecological footprint in the world, while the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Denmark, Belgium and the US are the five worst countries for over-consumption of resources.

Much of the ‘ecological overshoot’ is caused by the world’s rising carbon footprint, which has increased 11-fold since 1961.