A new study shows Earth Overshoot Day – the point at which the consumption of earth’s resources exceeds the capacity of nature to regenerate – is arriving faster. Thirty years ago, Earth Overshoot Day was October 15. Twenty years ago, it was September 30, and ten years ago, it was August 15. This year, August 1 marked the earliest date ever recorded.
In “How changing the world’s food systems can help to protect the planet,” CGIAR System Organization Executive Director Elwyn Grainger-Jones says one of the greatest pressure points pushing the planet to its limits is the food system. The way food is grown, produced, transported and consumed has serious consequences on the quantity and quality of earth’s natural resources. Grainger-Jones says there are numerous initiatives around the world working to transform food systems to have lower environmental footprints.
In a major wheat growing region of Mexico, CIMMYT researchers are studying how to more precisely apply nitrogen to significantly lower emissions and runoff without affecting yield.
Read the full article to learn more about this study and what other CGIAR centers are doing to close the resource gap.
Capacity development 
