Currently, over 80% of the world population lives in countries that use more resources than their own ecosystems can renew. The core capitalist countries (EU, USA and Japan), ecological debtors, have exhausted their own resources and must import them. In the survey of the Global Footprint Network, the Japanese consume 7.1 times more than they have and would need four Italys to supply the Italians. The consumption pattern of developed countries disrupts this balance. An indisputable fact is that humanity has ever consumes more natural resources than the planet can replenish.

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PLANET EARTH AND ITS LIMITS ON USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES
Fernando Alcoforado *
All available data point in the sense that the Earth is now reaching its limits in the use of
its natural resources. One of these data concerns the ecological footprint that is a good
way to measure the impact of human beings on planet Earth. The ecological footprint is
a methodology used to measure the amounts of land and water (in terms of global
hectares - gha) that would be needed to support domestic consumption. The ecological
footprint is a calculation of what each person, every country and ultimately the world's
population consumes natural resources. The measurement is made in hectares, and six
categories are evaluated: farmland, pastures, forests, fishing areas, carbon demands and
land for the construction of buildings.
Whereas five types of surface (cultivated areas, pastures, forests, fisheries and built
environment), planet Earth has approximately 13.4 billion global hectares (gha) of
biologically productive land and water according to 2010 data from the Global
Footprint Network and humanity's ecological footprint reached the milestone of 2.7
global hectares (gha) per person in 2007 for a world population of 6.7 billion people on
the same date (according to the UN) [See Article A terra no limite (Earth in the limit)
by José Eustáquio Diniz Alves available on the website
<http://planetasustentavel.abril.com.br/noticia/ambiente/terra-limite-humanidade-
recursos-naturais-planeta-situacao-sustentavel-637804.shtml>].
With humanity's ecological footprint of 2.7 global hectares (gha) per person means to
say that to sustain the current population on Earth of 7 billion people would take 18.9
billion gha (2.7 gha x 7 billion people) which is higher than the 13.4 billion global
hectares (gha) of biologically productive land and water on Earth, a fact that indicates
that already exceeded the regenerative capacity of the planet in the average level of
current world consumption. Today, due to the current rate of consumption, the demand
for natural resources exceeds 41% spare capacity of the Earth. If the escalation of this
demand continues at this rate, by 2030, with an estimated global population of 10
billion people, two Earths will be needed to satisfy it. It should be noted that from 2050,
when the world population will exceed 10 billion people, planet Earth cannot resist such
demands on natural resources.
Currently, over 80% of the world population lives in countries that use more resources
than their own ecosystems can renew. The core capitalist countries (EU, USA and
Japan), ecological debtors, have exhausted their own resources and must import them.
In the survey of the Global Footprint Network, the Japanese consume 7.1 times more
than they have and would need four Italys to supply the Italians. The consumption
pattern of developed countries disrupts this balance. An indisputable fact is that
humanity has ever consumes more natural resources than the planet can replenish.
The available data on reserves of mineral resources also point to the effect that the Earth
is now reaching its limits. Exhaust estimate of mineral resources of the planet Earth is
presented in the article Quando os recursos minerais se esgotarão? (When the mineral
resources will be exhausted?), published on the website
<http://planetasustentavel.abril.com.br/noticia/ambiente/quando-recursos-minerais-se-
esgotarao-648952.shtml>, based on information from the US Geological Survey, the US
government agency responsible for geological research that crossed information on the
annual consumption, mineral reserves available on the planet and its predictable

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extinction: 1) Platinum (use in surgical materials) - Extinction by 2049; 2) Silver (use
in the manufacture of mirrors and cutlery) - Extinction in 2016; 3) Copper (use in wire
and cable and air conditioning ducts) - Extinction in 2027; 4) Antimony (use in remote
controls and other materials to increase strength) - Extinction 2020; 5) Lithium (use in
cell phone batteries, laptops and video games) - Extinction in 2053; 6) Phosphorus (use
in agricultural fertilizers) - Extinction in 2149; 7) Uranium (use for electric power
generation) - Extinction in 2026; 8) Indian (use in smartphones and tablets touch screen
screens) - Extinction in 2020; 9) Tantalum (use in cameras lenses) - Extinction in
2027; 10) Nickel (use in metal alloy coating, electronics such as cell phones) -
Extinction in 2064; 11) Tin (use in coating metal alloys, such as those used in the soft
drink cans) - Extinction 2024; 12) Lead (use in car batteries and trucks and welds and
bearings) - Extinction in 2015; 13) Gold (use as jewelry and computer microchips) -
Extinction in 2043; 14) Zinc (use to cover alloys, preventing rust that destroy objects
like coins) - Extinction in 2041.
For these reasons many of planet Earth minerals are coming to an end, which may stop
the use of various technologies currently used. As for oil, will last 40 years according to
data presented on the website <http://institutoparacleto.org/2013/05/23/o-futuro-do-
petroleo/>. Natural gas has reserves that can ensure your production up to 60 years
according to the website <http://exame.abril.com.br/economia/noticias/os-10-paises-
com-as-maiores-reservas-de-gas-natural-do-mundo>. Coal, in turn, has enough reserves
to last 250 years according to the website data
<http://carvaomineral.blogspot.com.br/2006/09/reservas-de-carvo-no-mundo.html>.
The shale gas in recent exploration in the United States, that could meet the domestic
demand of the country for natural gas at current levels of consumption for over 100
years, is extremely negative for the environment because it generates half the carbon
emissions from coal, and pollutes the sheets underground aquifers.
All that has just been described on the duration of fossil fuel reserves indicates that,
given the longevity of coal, it would be the source of energy to be used in the future
when other fossil fuels are depleted, a fact that would aggravate the greenhouse effect in
the atmosphere. Humanity must become aware of the urgent need to replace fossil fuels
with renewable energy sources to avoid the catastrophic scenario of using coal as an
energy source as well as to replace the current model of development for sustainable
development, which, by reverse logistics, with the reuse, recovery and recycling of
materials, thus reaching the so-called closed production cycle, could delay the
exhaustion of natural resources of the planet Earth.
*Fernando Alcoforado , member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor of Territorial
Planning and Regional Development from the University of Barcelona, a university professor and
consultant in strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is
the author of Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova
(Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São
Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado.
Universidade de Barcelona, http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e
Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX
e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of
the Economic and Social Development-The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Muller
Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe
Planetária (P&A Gráfica e Editora, Salvador, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e
combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011)
and Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012),
among others.