Global Footprint

US based think tank, The Global Footprint Network aims to offer a standardised model through which the human ecological footprint can be calculated. The think tank asserts that  until the mid seventies the balance between humanity's use of nature’s resources to "build cities and roads, to provide food and create products" whilst emitting high rates of carbon dioxide rate was well within Earth’s "budget". That is, the Earth was able to naturally replenish and regenerate. Since then, humanity has crossed a critical threshold in that human consumption has began to outstrip what the planet is able to reproduce and regenerate.

According to Global Footprint Network’s calculations, human demand for renewable ecological resources is now equivalent to more than 1.5 Earths. In planetary terms, the cost of our ecological overspending is becoming more continuously evident. They argue that their data shows that unchecked humankind is on track by 2050 to requiring the resources of two planets. Climate change as a result of greenhouse gases being emitted faster than they can be absorbed by forests and oceans is the most obvious aspect. However, the Global Footprint Network point to others—shrinking forests, species loss, fisheries collapse, higher commodity prices, population growth and civil unrest. In short, we are using, or “spending,” our natural capital faster than it can replenish. This is similar to having expenditures that continuously exceed income and the environmental and financial crises we are experiencing are symptoms of looming catastrophe. Humanity is simply using more than what the planet can provide.

Earth Overshoot Day, first observed in 1987, marks the annual point in the calendar when humans has exhausted the Earth's budget for the year, putting our ecological economy into deficit. It is an estimate, not an exact date and is arrived at through a calculation. In 1992, this date was in October. Adjustments of the date that we go into overshoot are due to revised calculations, not ecological advances on the part of humanity. This trend demonstrates a moving back through the year on the annual overspend and for the rest of the year, we will maintain an ecological deficit by drawing down local resource stocks and accumulating carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. I would be amongst the first to admit that there is much scaremongering. That said, if this model is to be considered, then last year, in 2012, humanity went into overspend in August. The rest of our time was living off 'borrowed' time and resources without any plan to pay this back.

Age

The ageing process is something that provokes many emotional responses. In some ways the positive aspects should outweigh the negative. Maturity and wisdom are attributes that are almost always associated with the experience that can come with age. (Note the italic).

But the other side is that age can be cruel. In my case, I have seen both my parents struggle with their general health and I have observed a slowing down in their activities. To their absolute credit they still go about doing as much as they can but the worry and the obvious dependencies are increasingly evident. May Allah continue to keep them strong in faith, body and mind. Ameen.

A year and a half ago, at about this point my parents were midway through a 'sabbatical' year that they decided would be best spent away from Yorkshire soaking in the heat of Pakistan. My reasons thus for being in Pakistan were simple - my mother had not been well and even if only for four hours, I flew to Karachi to see her.

Culturally, my upbringing has me left me hard-wired in such a way so that living in a joint family situation with my parents is a role that I easily slip in to. Simply put, I need to be there for my folks and this has influenced a lot of the decisions throughout my adult life so there have been periods when I have put my own plans to one side and opted to live under the same roof. 

Whilst I wrestle with those moments when duties, ambition and responsibilities pull me in different directions, one of the worst things about watching everyone get older is seeing how the circle of people that my parents had built around themselves, slowly dying away. It is those gaps left behind that I find hard to address. Death stares us in the face and for most of us age will bring its inevitable challenges. Dealing with these whilst trying to fulfil our own individual living dreams is something that I don't think I have had much preparation for. It is not death, but the thought that age can leave others feeling dependent and alone, that troubles me the most.