#Ecological Overshoot

[collapseofindustrialcivilization]

Homo Sapiens Are Working Overtime to Join 'The Great Silence'

And if it does affect the economy, we’ll find a way to                      extract a profit from it…. Driven mostly by rising global temperatures from the continued burning of fossil fuels, extreme weather events such as typhoons, hurricanes, floods, heatwaves and drought are becoming more frequent, increasing 83% worldwide in the past 20 years (as of 2020), and the costs have increased by 800%…

[ponku-po]

Busy Worker’s Handbook to the Apocalypse by Sam Hall

[faithfromanewperspective]

i'm obsessed with the idea that sustainability is nurturing. i'm obsessed with healing being healing for all of us. i'm obsessed with the way that looking after our environment so mirrors looking after our bodies and our minds. i'm obsessed with integrating this.

when i was in my late teens going through burnout and starting my enviro sci degree I remember comparing what was going on in my head with planetary overshoot. as in when we've gone through so much in one year that we've borrowed some from the future, more than used up the resources for that one year. I did that with my brain then, and I did it again now. I need to stop, I can't sustain this. we need to stop doing this to the planet, we can't sustain it.

but no one overworks themselves unless they think it's going to get them something. no one overworks themselves unless they're scared not to. unless that option might be somehow worse. i know it was for me. trying to get off the grind but when it was either that or feel nothing? I don't know what to choose. I needed to meet my needs elsewhere. same goes with the greedy exploiters of the planet, they need to be stopped, yes, but they're all chasing something. we all are. sustainability is simply meeting those needs in healthy ways.

[delicatelysublimeforester]

Earth Overshoot Day: Facing the Future with Hope

[earaercircular]

Earth Overshoot Day: Why investors should be concerned about resource depletion

Research shows that by August 2, the consumption of the Earth's natural resources will have exceeded the capacity for annual regeneration. As investors, however, we are in a position to contribute to pushing back this date, by supporting the transition towards a more sustainable future.

Everyone knows today that humanity uses the Earth's natural resources at a rate that does not allow them to be regenerated. The result of a scholarly calculation, “Overshoot Day” corresponds to the date on which, each year, the consumption of resources exceeds what can be regenerated in 12 months.

According to the latest estimates from the National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts report, Earth Overshoot Day is August 2, 2023 this year.[1]  In other words, our use of natural resources seems to be better controlled[2]. Lately, the situation has tended to get worse year on year, except in 2020, where COVID-19 related lockdowns pushed back the Overshoot Day date by about a month (August 22).

This report points out, however, that while the calculated date has been pushed back five days this year compared to 2022, the actual improvement represents only one day, the remaining four days being due to the integration of new data series in the calculations.

Each country has its own Overshoot Day: developed markets with higher living standards are usually at one end of the spectrum, while developing countries are at the other end. For the United States, the threshold was reached on March 13 of this year, which means that if the world's population consumed at the same rate as the United States, resources would be exhausted by that date. Qatar's Overshoot Day is the earliest (February 10), while Germany, France, Japan and the UK reached this point in May. Jamaica brings up the rear with a date set for December 2023.[3]

These indicators show that the way we use natural resources is unsustainable and that governments, businesses and investors need to act.

How investors can help push back the date

The Global Footprint Network identifies several key areas to limit our use of natural resources, including protecting biodiversity, decarbonising the energy sector and more efficient food production associated with lower waste. These areas are at the heart of responsible investing and we believe investors can make a difference, while still aiming for long-term financial returns.

More than half of the world's GDP depends on healthy biodiversity, and ecosystem degradation costs the global economy more than USD 5 trillion each year. Also, the collapse of pollinators and timber and fish stocks could weigh on global GDP by 2.3% by 2030[4].

As investors, we can seek to protect biodiversity in a variety of ways, including allocating our capital to companies active in water treatment, precision agriculture (which, while producing crops at higher yield to feed a growing population, reduced use of harmful fertilizers and pesticides) and sustainable forest management in the paper and packaging industry.

Switching to renewable energy and moving away from fossil fuels together are a crucial step towards reducing carbon emissions and using natural resources more efficiently. Also, the fact that a growing number of countries are reducing their dependence on fossil fuels generates, in our view, a multitude of investment opportunities, whether they are renewable energy players or companies supplying technologies and services to the sector.

A circular approach

The “take-make-throw away” model on which the global economy is based is partly responsible for the overexploitation of the planet's resources. Instead, we should focus on “repair-reuse-recycle” – the approach that underpins a circular economy model – to keep materials and products in circulation, eliminate waste and regenerate nature.[5]

The Circularity Gap Report 2023 published by think tank Circle Economy and Deloitte[6] suggests that shifting to a circular economy model would meet needs using only 70% of the raw materials we extract today – otherwise said, without exceeding the limits of earthly resources. But there is still a long way to go, as this report estimates that the global economy is currently circular for only 7.2%.

However, the dynamic is positive. In 2020, the European Commission adopted a Circular Economy Action Plan, including measures to ensure products are designed to last longer, be easier to recycle and use recycled materials in their production when possible[7]. In March 2023, the Commission also proposed a directive on the “right to repair”[8], to make it easier and cheaper to have products repaired than to replace them. [9]

Circular solutions can solve some problems related to the way we use the Earth's resources, but also promote the reduction of carbon emissions, the protection of biodiversity, etc[10].

Potential benefits for investors and for the planet

As an asset manager, we can invest on a large scale and support companies active in key areas – biodiversity, energy transition, food and agriculture, circular economy – but also governments through sovereign bond issues.

Companies at the forefront of the transition could experience strong growth, while competitors lagging behind risk seeing demand for their goods and services erode and their cost of capital rise, while they remain under threat of change. regulations or policies such as increases in taxes or tariffs.

Changemakers and their investors are therefore well positioned to take advantage of the situation financially, while contributing to the fight against climate change and reducing our ecological footprint.

Source

Chris Iggo, Jour du dépassement : pourquoi les investisseurs doivent se préoccuper de l’épuisement des ressources, Les Echos, 17-07-2023, https://www.lesechos.fr/partenaires/axa-investment-managers/jour-du-depassement-pourquoi-les-investisseurs-doivent-se-preoccuper-de-lepuisement-des-ressources-1959687

Chris Iggo is CIO, Core Investments, at AXA IM

[1] https://www.overshootday.org/newsroom/press-release-june-2023-english/

[2] Previous Overshoot Day dates – #Delay the Overshoot Day date. Using data from the United Nations and other sources including the Global Carbon Project, the Global Footprint Network calculates Earth Overshoot Day by comparing biocapacity and ecological footprint. https://www.overshootday.org/newsroom/past-earth-overshoot-days/

[3] Overshoot Day by country, 2023 – Earth Overshoot Day https://www.overshootday.org/newsroom/country-overshoot-days/

[4] Mariana Villanueva: Biodiversity Q&A: Understanding a powerful new investment theme; AXA IM Corporate https://www.axa-im.com/news-and-experts-insights/investment-institute/sustainability/biodiversity-qa-understanding-powerful-new-investment-theme#footnote12_ynt572d

[5] Read also: https://www.tumblr.com/lodelcar/678781561847627776/circular-economy-a-start-to-a-new-global-economic?source=share

[6] The Circularity Gap Report 2023; https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023

[7] Changing how we produce and consume: New Circular Economy Action Plan shows the way to a climate-neutral, competitive economy of empowered consumers. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_420

[8] Read also: https://www.tumblr.com/earaercircular/661118774058123264/repairing-electrical-appliances-is-becoming-easier?source=share

[9]Right to repair: Commission introduces new consumer rights for easy and attractive repairs; https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_1794

[10] Virginie Derue: The circular economy: A potential value driver across industries, in AXA IMCore, https://core.axa-im.com/research-and-insights/investment-institute/sustainability/environmental/circular-economy-potential-value-driver-across-industries

[probablyasocialecologist]

The richest 1% globally has been responsible for 23% of total emissions growth since 1990 (Chancel 2022). Over the past 25 years, this “polluter elite” (IPCC 2022, 524) has contributed to more than twice as much carbon pollution compared to the three billion people that comprise the poorest half of humanity (Oxfam 2020; see also Gössling and Humpe 2023). Similar inequalities are evident in the (over)consumption of other resources. Savelli et al. (2023) show that the excessive water use by elites exacerbates urban water crises as much as climate change or population growth. Additionally, maintaining economic inequality close to current levels results in a doubling of the energy required to ensure decent living standards for all, allowing all people on Earth to have their basic needs covered (Millward-Hopkins 2022). At the same time, it is now clear that those who suffer most from environmental degradation have contributed the least to it (Chancel 2020). These selective vignettes underscore a simple but powerful truth: today’s climate and broader ecological crises are, at their core, distributional crises, where excess and deprivation, overshoot and shortfall are interconnected (see also Gough 2017; Büchs et al. 2023). Despite these realities, prevailing climate research and policy, deeply entrenched in an ecomodernist, green-growth paradigm, tend to frame the climate crisis as a matter of decoupling resource use and emissions from economic growth. This is envisioned to be achieved through technological advancements (efficiency gains) and adjustments of the price system to correct market failures (internalising “externalities”). However, this techno-economic approach to climate research and policy has not only failed to resolve its own problem definition, as there is no empirical evidence supporting the existence of absolute decoupling anywhere near the speed and scale needed (Parrique et al. 2019; Haberl et al. 2020; Wiedmann et al. 2020; Vogel and Hickel 2023). Efficiency improvements and price adjustments also constitute responses to a problem framing that considers inequality at best an afterthought. As leading climate economist Gernot Wagner proclaims: “It’s tempting to want to stick it to the man. We instead need to stick it to carbon. (…) Inequality is a real (…) problem. But we can’t delay climate action even further for the false hope of solving all the world’s other ills” (cited in Harvey 2023). Such mindsets cannot provide answers to ecological crises as distributional crises.

[collapseofindustrialcivilization]

Last Rites for a Dying Civilization

When the Black Death struck Europe in the Middle Ages, the fundamental values that held society together broke down. Husbands and wives abandoned each other and mother’s abandoned their children. This void of ethics that overtook the population is described in Boccaccio’s Decameron, considered a masterpiece of Italian prose and a documentary of life during that time. The book describes the…

[quixoticanarchy]

Ok I read a book on degrowth by jason hickel (Less is More) and I still need to read more but. preliminary thoughts:

I appreciate the quantification of by how much current resource and energy consumption overshoots sustainable limits, and the excoriation of the absurd demand for compound growth on a finite planet; and the book has a decent history of capitalism and the violence and dispossession it rests upon. There is some similar quantification for how proposed degrowth measures would affect resource consumption, though (understandably) piecemeal, so it’s unclear what the full impact of these measures would be vis-à-vis climate meltdown and ecological tipping points, or on what timeline the degrowth transition would have to occur.

Degrowth measures - resource use caps, a shorter work week, basic income, healthcare, income caps, re-localizing supply chains, killing planned obsolescence, moving to a shared rather than personal ownership model for things like vehicles, etc. - are broadly “good” and have been promoted and supported outside of a specifically degrowth context already, which speaks to their appeal but also their pitfalls. Implementing all these measures and more has to carry the explicit intention of improving human and ecological welfare, GDP be damned, and has to be tied explicitly to a commitment to reducing growth and capping profits; otherwise, the trap I see is attempting to enact some of these measures while keeping the capitalist edifice intact - which, as Hickel acknowledges, would spur a new ‘fix’ in which some other domain or market is forced open for exploitation so that growth can continue.

This is obviously at odds with degrowth and it isn’t anything degrowth advocates don’t know, but it seems naïve to envision states whose existence and operation are so inextricable from capitalism being capable of doing such reforms to the degree and with the ideological shift necessary. It would be suicide. Which I’d welcome, but just saying we need to tackle corruption and have more real democracy so that governments can serve people’s actual needs does not convince me that these policies could be sincerely and radically adopted by any state that exists today.

The book seems to walk a line between “degrowth is very radical since it would require ditching the demand for economic growth and probably most of the profit motive itself, which is a huge mindset and ideological shift - if not to socialism per se then to post-capitalism” and also “degrowth isn’t that radical/outlandish since what it takes is all these commonsense reforms that people already want anyway”. Sometimes the degrowth policy package sounds a lot like just welfare-state capitalism, except with resource and energy consumption dramatically scaled back, and without the economic growth imperative. So… no longer capitalism as such, but still using many of the master’s tools to retrofit the master’s house.

In principle, a world exists in which wealthy countries consume far less and the rest of the world is freer and not (or at least less) exploited. In principle, degrowth measures could help us realize that world. Saying it’s not a revolutionary process might keep some readers from being scared off, etc, but I’m left wondering then: where does the force come from to make these changes happen? Are wealthy countries and individuals and corporations going to just agree to resource caps and wealth caps and redistribution? The argument that degrowth is a kind of decolonization and requires the demise of the colonial and capitalist view of people and nature is compelling to me, but that seems to conflict with the idea that degrowth can be implemented as a set of reforms to the systems that exist now, without the messiness of revolution and without somehow being co-opted by capitalism or packaged as ‘green growth’ (which Hickel makes clear would be bad and is bullshit). The ideological shift and end to growth is the big ask here - without that, the reforms are just rearranging deck chairs on the titanic, or maybe on the lawn of the master’s house, if you will.

[oediex]

Today is Earth Overshoot Day.

"Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year."

This means that from today on, we are living in an ecological deficit, or on "credit". We are using natural resources the earth cannot replenish, as well as accumulating waste the earth cannot deal with, "primarily carbon dioxide in the atmosphere". We are using 1.7 earths every year.

The date of Earth Overshoot Days is slowly climbing forward more and more:

While what we should be doing is pushing that date back the other way. If we want to reach the IPCC goal of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by 2030, which is required if we are to limit global warming to 1,5°C, we need to push Earth Overshoot Day back by 19 days for the next 7 years.

World Overshoot Day is calculated by Global Footprint Network (where the above graph is from), an international non-profit research organisation that provides data, insights, and tools for decision-makers to understand the ecological limitations of our world so that they can make informed decisions for a better future.

One of the best things you can do as an individual is going vegan, because meat and dairy products tend to emit more greenhouse gasses than plant-based foods. It is truly one of the most effective ways for you as an individual to have an impact on the environment.

A friendly reminder here at the end that veganism is a doing what is “possible and practicable” for you - this includes access to foods, allergies, health issues, mental health issues, etc.

[saddayfordemocracy]

August 2 is Earth overshoot day 2023 !

Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) marks when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate during that year. 

Today is Earth Overshoot Day 2023, the Earth Overshoot Day calculated every year by Global Footprint Network using data from National Footprint and Biocapacity Accountswhich indicates the official depletion of renewable resources that the planet is able to offer within a year.

This means that today, August 2, humanity has already “finished” all the resources that Nature produces in an entire year and is starting to go into debt. Humanity, with its over 8 billion inhabitants, consumes in excessive quantities, beyond the natural regeneration (and reabsorption) capacities of the planet.

In 1973 Overshoot Day fell on December 3: we were just a few days over our annual budget. In 2003, September 12, in 2013, August 3. The date has always been getting ahead and our ecological debt has grown.

Globally we are consuming the equivalent of 1.7 Planets a year, an ominous figure that is expected to rise to two planets by 2030, based on current trends. In the last 5 years the trend seems to have stabilized, but it is difficult to establish whether this is due to the slowdown of the economy or to decarbonisation efforts. However, the reduction of our “debt” to the planet is still too slow. To achieve the United Nations IPCC goal of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by 2030 (compared to 2010) it would be necessary to move Earth Overshoot Day forward by 19 days per year for next seven years.

According to the WWF there are many solutions that can be adopted at the community level or individually to have a significant impact on the type of future we invest in: for example if we used energy from 75% renewable sources we could move the Overshhot day by 26 days ; halving food waste would save 13 days.

“If up until the 1960s humanity was more or less in balance, the date has moved from year to year up the calendar, to arrive today at the beginning of August. This means that humanity has been in ecological overshoot for over 50 years and the debt we have accumulated amounts to 19 years of planetary production, i.e. what Earth’s ecosystems can regenerate in 19 years. The burden of this debt, which is set to increase, is starting to reduce economic options. The loss of biodiversity, the growing unpredictability of the weather and the depletion of groundwater are just a few symptoms. But overcoming itself is not inevitable. Constantly living beyond the physical possibilities of our planet is a limited possibility in time, we risk an ecological disaster: the goods and services that are the basis of our societies and economies are all produced by functioning and healthy ecosystems. We now have many targeted solutions to reverse the overexploitation of resources and support the regeneration of the biosphere in which we live”.

[climatecalling]

Ecology tells us that many species overshoot their environment’s carrying capacity if they have temporary access to an unusually high level of resources. Overshoot declines when those resources return to more stable levels. This often involves large-scale starvation and die-offs as populations adjust. Access to fossil fuels has allowed us to temporarily overshoot biophysical limits. This lifted our population and demands on the biosphere past the level it can safely absorb. Barring a planned reduction of those biosphere demands, we will experience the same “adjustments” as other species. One advantage humans have over other species is that we understand overshoot dynamics and can plan how we adjust. This is what the degrowth movement is attempting to do. ... Humanity exceeds its fair share of natural resources by more than 50%, and likely needs to reduce this demand by 70-80% to operate within carrying capacity. Those with greater wealth are responsible for a disproportionately large share of overshoot. ... The climate crisis is seen as a problem requiring a solution rather than a symptom of overshoot. The problem is generally formulated as looking for a way to maintain current lifestyles in the wealthy world, rather than reducing overshoot. The ecological perspective accepts that we exceed biophysical boundaries and emphasises the importance of reducing energy and material consumption – regardless of how the energy is provided.

[lepartidelamort]

Global Warmers Call for Reducing Population Through Women’s Rights and Education.

Oh so it's not economics that reduces the birthrate? lol.

These people never bothered to provide any evidence global warming was real. Nothing has changed in this goofy movement since Al Gore won an Academy Award and a Nobel Peace Prize for telling people New York City would be underwater by 2013.

Global warming is a complete hoax, and anyone who knows anything is aware of that. The hoax has been so thoroughly debunked that there is no reason to even talk about it at this point.

However, due to a stupid, vaginal, emotionalized campaign to tell people they are good people if they believe in this dumb hoax, many people apparently do believe in it, and they can just keep pushing it further and further. They’ve of course backed off of the “cities will be underwater” bullshit, because that was ruled too stupid. But now they say any change in weather is caused by this fake thing, and are recently arguing for an incoming “societal collapse.”

Their solutions are all related to social engineering. If they actually believed carbon dioxide was a threat, they could just build nuclear power plants to power Chinese EVs and be done with it. Of course, that would only take a decade or so, and then they wouldn’t have any reason to push for all of these social engineering agendas.

The Guardian:

Many of the Earth’s “vital signs” have hit record extremes, indicating that “the future of humanity hangs in the balance”, a group of the world’s most senior climate experts has said. More and more scientists are now looking into the possibility of societal collapse, said the report, which assessed 35 vital signs in 2023 and found that 25 were worse than ever recorded, including carbon dioxide levels and human population. This indicates a “critical and unpredictable new phase of the climate crisis”, they said. … Global heating is driving increasingly deadly extreme weather across the world, they said, including hurricanes in the US and 50C heatwaves in India, with billions of people now exposed to extreme heat. The scientists said their goal was “to provide clear, evidence-based insights that inspire informed and bold responses from citizens to researchers and world leaders – we just want to act truthfully and tell it like it is”. Decisive, fast action was imperative, they said, to limit human suffering, including slashing fossil fuel burning and methane emissions, cutting overconsumption and waste by the rich, and encouraging a switch towards plant-based foods. … The researchers said global heating was part of a wider crisis, which included pollution, the destruction of nature and rising economic inequality: “Climate change is a glaring symptom of a deeper systemic issue: ecological overshoot, [which] is an inherently unstable state that cannot persist indefinitely. As the risk of Earth’s climate system switching to a catastrophic state rises, more and more scientists have begun to research the possibility of societal collapse. Even in the absence of global collapse, climate change could cause many millions of additional deaths by 2050. We need bold, transformative change.” Among the policies the scientists recommend for rapid adoption are gradually reducing the human population through empowering education and rights for girls and women, protecting restoring, or rewilding ecosystems, and integrating climate change education into global curriculums to boost awareness and action.

You see? They will admit that women’s rights destroys the birthrate when they are arguing for purposefully destroying the birthrate.

However, when countries like South Korea or Hungary are trying to increase the birthrate, all of a sudden it’s an economic issue, and the government just needs to throw free money at stupid whores to get them to reproduce.

Let that sink in: these people admit that women’s rights destroys birthrates.

It’s not a theory. Everyone knows this.

Andrew Anglin

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 8.1

Holidays

African Emancipation Day (Trinidad and Tobago)

Air Force Day

Armed Forces Day (China, Lebanon)

Azerbaijani Language and Alphabet Day

Basil Day (French Republic)

Battle of Athens Day

Bitcoin Independence Day

Caribbean Day

Chopsticks Day

Clergy Sexual Abuse Awareness and Prevention Day

Cross-Quarter Day

Cycle to Work Day (UK)

Day of Azerbaijani Language and Alphabet

Day of Pachamama (Peru)

Day of the Rear Services of the Armed Forces (Russia)

Day of the Telephone Operator (Mexico)

DOGust

Earth Overshoot Day 2024 (a.k.a. Ecological Debt Day)  [ website ]

Ectopic Pregnancy Awareness Day

801 Day

Emancipation Day (UK; British Commonwealth)

Freedom Day (Belize)

Freedom to Marry Day (Minnesota)

Friendship Day

Gold Star Children’s Day

Girlfriends’ Day

Good Sportsmanship Day

Grain Marketing Freedom Day (Canada)

Guca Brass Bands Day (Serbia)

Harriet Quimby Day

HitchBOT Remembrance Day

Homowo (a.k.a. Hooting at Hunger; Ghana)

Indigenous Peoples Day (Taiwan)

International Adaptive Activity Day

International Can-It-Forward Day

International Childfree Day

International Mahjong Day

International Marine Protected Areas Day

International Sri Lankan Leopard Day

International Woo-Ah Day

Jerry Day

Laa Luanys (Isle of Man)

Laughter Day (Southern California)

Led Zeppelin Day

Liberation of Haile Selassie Day (Rastafari)

Memorial Day for the Victims of World War I (Russia)

Minden Day (UK)

Minority Donor Awareness Day

MTV Day

National Alpaca Day (Peru)

National American Family Day

National Andrew Day

National CBD Day

National Girlfriends Day

National Huddle Ledbetter Day

National Mahjong Day

National Minority Donor Awareness Day

National Mountain Climbing Day

National Non-Parent Day

National Poll Worker Recruitment Day

National Promise to Care Day

National Spritz Day

National Waifu Day

National Warsaw Uprising Remembrance Day (Poland)

National Wedding Day (UK)

National York Day

Odaiba Day

Oxygen Discovery Day

Parents’ Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo; Zaire)

Planner Day

Play Ball Day

Pod Body Day (Portland, Maine)

Respect For Parents Day

RNA Day

Rounds Resounding Day

San Francisco Cable Car Day

Scout Foundation Day

Scout Scarf Day

Social Resistance Day (North Cyprus)

Spider-Man Day

Sports Day

SSN 801 Day

Startup Day Across America

Swiss National Day

Technical Support Worker Day (Russia)

Treida de Santo Domingo de Guzmán (Nicaragua)

Thoroughbred Birthday (Southern Hemisphere)

Victory Day (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam)

White Rabbit Day

Wipe the Slate Clean Day

Woman Astronomers Day

Women’s Day (Thailand)

World Breastfeeding Day

World Day of Joy

World Fintech Day

World Lung Cancer Day

World Middle Finger Day

World Naked Sailing Day

World Scout Scarf Day

World Wide Web Day

Yaoi Day

Yorkshire Day (England)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Belgian Frites Day (a.k.a. International Day of Belgian Fries)

Homemade Pie Day

International Albariño Day

International Can-It Forward Day

Mars Bar Day

National Nutritional Yeast Day

National Raspberry Cream Pie Day

Old Vine Day

Independence & Related Days

Benin (originally Dahomey; from France, 1960)

Colorado Statehood Day (#38; 1876)

Guadalcanal Province Day (Solomon Islands)

Jennytopia (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Switzerland (a.k.a. Confederation Day; from Holy Roman Empire, 1291)

Toku (Declared; 2014) [unrecognized]

Vodopol (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]

1st Thursday in August

August Thursday (Anguilla) [1st Thursday]

Emancipation Day (Bermuda; 1st Day of Cup Match) [Thursday before 1st Monday in August]

Kid Lit Art Postcard Day [1st Thursday]

National Dash Cam Day (UK) [1st Thursday]

National IPA Day (f.k.a. International IPA Day) [1st Thursday]

Weekly Holidays beginning August 1 (1st Week of August)

Brat Days (Sheboygan, Wisconsin) [1st Thursday thru Sunday]

Carnaval del Pueblo (London, UK) [1st Week]

International Assistance Dog Week (thru 8.7) [1st Week]

International Clown Week (thru 8.7)

International Mathematicians Week (thru 8.9)

National Albariño Week (thru 8.5)

National Cleanse Your Skin Week (thru 8.7)

National Fraud Awareness Week (thru 8.7) [1st Week]

National Minority Donor Awareness Week (thru 8.7)

National Scrabble Week (thru 8.7) [1st Week]

National Video Game Week (thru 8.7) [1st Week]

Satchmo Days [begin Thursday nearest 8.4 thru Sunday]

Simplify Your Life Week (thru 8.7)

World Breastfeeding Week (thru 8.7) [1st Week]

Festivals Beginning August 1, 2024

American Cured Meat Championships (Omaha, Nebraska) [thru 8.3]

August is Maine Lobster Month (Statewide, Maine) [thru 8.31]

Bear Lake Raspberry Days Festival (Garden City, Utah) [thru 8.3]

Castlefest (Lisse, Netherlands) [thru 8.4]

Clam Festival (Highlands, New Jersey) [thru 8.3]

Denver Burger Battle (Denver, Colorado)

Eden Corn Festival (Eden, New York) [thru 8.4]

Empire Farm Days (Pompey, New York) [thru 8.3]

Estherville Sweet Corn Days (Estherville, Iowa) [thru 8.4]

Gen Con (Indianapolis, Indiana) [thru 8.4]

Green Gathering (Chepstow, United Kingdom) [thru 8.4]

Houston Restaurant Weeks (Houston, Texas) [thru 9.2]

Katahdin Sheep Show (Mexico, Missouri) [thru 8.3]

Klamath County Fair (Klamath Falls, Oregon) [thru 8.4]

Lollapalooza (Chicago, Illinois) [thru 8.4]

Mammoth Festival of Beers & Bluesapalooza (Mammoth Lakes, California) [thru 8.4]

Mile of Music (Appleton, Wisconsin) [thru 8.4]

Minnesota Fringe Festival (Minneapolis, Minnesota) [thru 8.11]

Mobile Motion Film Festival (Zurich, Swizterland) [thru 8.31]

Official Star Trek Convention (Las Vegas, Nevada) [thru 8.4]

Outer Banks Watermelon Festival (Nag's Head, North Carolina)

Owensville Watermelon Festival (Owensville, Indiana) [thru 8.3]

Phelps Sauerkraut Weekend (Phelps, New York) [thru 8.4

Pol’and’Rock Festival (Woodstock Festival Poland; Czaplinek, Poland) [thru 8.3]

Saint Dominic Days (Managua) [thru 8.10]

Saskatoon Fringe Festival (Saskatoon, Canada) [thru 8.10]

Spicemas (Grenada Carnival; St. George’s, Grenada) [thru 8.13]

Sumner County Fair (Caldwell, Kansas) [thru 8.4]

Toronto Caribbean Carnival (Toronto, Canada) [thru 8.5]

Twin Cities Vegan Chef Challenge (Minneapolis, Minnesota) [thru 8.31]

Washington Wine Month (Washington State) [thru 8.31]

Wisconsin State Fair (West Allis, Wisconsin) [thru 8.11]

World Lumberjack Championships [thru 8.3]

XIT Rodeo & Reunion (Dalhart, Texas) [thru 8.3]

Zanzibar International Film Festival (Zanzibar City, Tanzania) [thru 8.4]

Feast Days

Abgar V of Edessa (Syrian Church)

Alan Moore (Australian War Artist; Artology)

Aled (a.k.a. Eiluned or Almedha; Christian; Martyr & Virgin)

Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori (Christian; Saint)

Æthelwold of Winchester (Christian; Saint)

Bernard Võ Văn Duệ (Christian; One of Vietnamese Martyrs)

Betty Lou’s Dad (Muppetism)

Cartoon Day (Pastafarian)

Chantal Montellier (Artology)

David Gemmell (Writerism)

Day of the Dryads (Macedonia)

Dormition Fast (Orthodox Church) [thru 8.14]

Drug Side-Effects Day (Church of the SubGenius)

Ethelwold of Winchester (Christian; Saint)

Eusebius of Vercelli (Christian; Saint)

Exuperius of Bayeux (Christian; Saint)

Faith, Hope, and Charity (Christian; Virgin Martyrs)

Feast of Faith, Hope, Charity, and their Mother, Wisdom (Christian; Martyrs)

Feast of Kamál (Perfection; Baha'i)

Feast of Ninlil (Sumerian Goddess of the Grain)

Felix of Girona (Christian; Saint)

Festival of Lugh (Celtic here god)

Festival of Xiuhtechuhtli (Aztec God of the Calendar)

Gerhard Hirschfelder (Christian; Blessed)

Herman Melville (Writerism)

The Holy Maccabees (Christian; Saint)

Imps Charity Scramble (Shamanism)

Isobel Lilian Gloag (Artology)

Jackie Ormes (Artology)

James Henry Govier (Artology)

Jan van Scorel (Artology)

Kalends of August (Ancient Rome)

Lammas (a.k.a. ... 

Feast of Bread (Neopagan)

Feast of First Fruits (England, Scotland)

Feast of the Wheat Harvest

Festival of Albina (Irish White Barley Goddess; aka Alphito)

Festival of the First Fruits

Gule of August (England, Scotland)

Imbolc (So. Hemisphere; Neopagan)

Lady Day Eve (Neopagan)

Lammas, Day 2 (Celtic, Pagan) [5 of 8 Festivals of the Natural Year]

Lammas Eve (a.k.a. Lughnassad Eve)

Lammas Sabbat

Luanistyn (Manx Gaelic)

Lithasblot (Norse Harvest Festival)

Loaf Mass

Loki and Sigyn’s Day (Norse)

Lugh (Celtic Book of Days)

Lughnasa

Lughnasadh (Grain Harvest) [Ends on Samhain]

Lúnasa (Modern Irish)

Lùnastal (Scottish Gaelic)

Sexon Hlafmaesse

Lobster Boy Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Mati-Syra-Zemlya Day (Slavic Goddess of the Earth)

Pachamama Rayni (Festival Celebrating Mother Earth) [Ecuador; Peru]

Pellegrini (a.k.a. Peregrinus), Hermit (Christian; Saint)

Peter Apostle in Chains (Christian; Saint)

Procession of the Cross and the beginning of Dormition Fast (Eastern Orthodox)

Quarter Day (Scotland)

Richard Wilson (Artology)

Rose Macaulay (Writerism)

Sebastiano Ricci (Artology)

The Spanish Romancers (Positivist; Saints)

Vhrsti (Artology)

Warsan Shire (Writerism)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Dismal Day (Unlucky or Evil Day; Medieval Europe; 15 of 24)

Egyptian Day (Unlucky Day; Middle Ages Europe) [15 of 24]

Fatal Day (Pagan) [15 of 24]

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [35 of 60]

Unlucky Monday (when Eve gave birth to Cain; Philippines) [1st Monday] (3 of 4)

Premieres

Alfred, by Thomas Arne (Opera; 1740)

Alice the Peacemaker (Disney Cartoon; 1924)

American Graffiti (Film; 1973)

Bargain Daze (Heckle & Jeckle Cartoon; 1953)

Being and Time, by Martin Heidegger (Book; 1927)

Big Chief No Treaty (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1962)

The Big Money, by John Dos Passos (Novel; 1936)

Burning Love, by Elvis Presley (Song; 1972)

Cape Kidnaveral (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1961)

Charley’s Aunt (Film; 1941)

Cook and Stagger (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1956)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, by Judi and Ron Barrett (Children’s Book; 1978)

Concert for Bangladesh, hosted by George Harrison (Charity Concert; 1971)

Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti, by Squeeze (Album; 1985)

Cowardly Watchdog (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1966)

Crazy with the Heat (Disney Cartoon; 1947)

Crusader Rabbit (Jay Ward Cartoon TV Series; 1950)

The Dog Show (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1950)

Driven to Extraction (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1963)

Dune, by Frank Herbert (Novel; 1965)

The Dusters, featuring the Mighty Heroes (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1971)

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, by Tom Wolfe (Novel; 1968)

Eric, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 1990) [Discworld #9]

Everybody’s Rockin’, by Neil Young (Album; 1983)

The Fabulous Firework Family (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1959)

The Final Countdown (Film; 1980)

Flebus (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1957)

Flight of the Navigator (Film; 1986)

The Four Musicians of Bremen (b Iwerks Cartoon; 1922)

A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin (Novel; 2000) [A Song of Fire and Ice #1]

Gangsta’s Paradise, by Coolio (Song; 1995)

Generals and Majors, by XTC (Song; 1980)

The Genie with the Light Touch (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1972)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson (Novel; 2008) [Millennium Trilogy #1]

Give Me Liberty (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1967)

Golden Egg Goose (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1951)

Guardians of the Galaxy (Film; 2014)

Heaven Can Wait (Film; 1943)

The Highwayman, by Alfred Noyes (Poem; 1906)

The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Arthur Conan Doyle (Novel; 1901)

House Busters (Heckle & Jeckle Cartoon; 1952)

Howard the Duck (Film; 1986)

How to Catch a Cold (Disney Cartoon; 1951)

Jeremy, by Pearl Jam (Music Video; 1992)

Judo Kudos (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1968)

King Tut’s Tomb (Heckle & Jeckle Cartoon; 1950)

The Littlest Bully (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1960)

The Lyin’ Lion (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1949)

Make Way for Ducklings, by Robert McCloskey (Children’s Book; 1941)

Meat, Drink and Be Merry (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1961)

Modern Man in Search of a Soul, by C.G. Jung (Philosophical Book; 1933)

Money (That’s What I Want), by Barrett Strong (Song; 1959)

The Monkey Wrench Gang, by Edward Abbey (Novel; 1975)

Mrs. Jones’ Rest Farm (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1949)

MTV (Cable Network; 1981)

MySpace (Social Media App; 2003)

96 Tears, by ? and the Mysterians (Song; 1966)

North Dallas Forty (Film; 1979)

Nothing in Common (Film; 1986)

Oil Through the Day (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1964)

Open House (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1953)

Paul Bunyan (Disney Cartoon; 1958)

Porky the Rain-Maker (WB LT Cartoon; 1936)

Pride of the Yard (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1954)

Rain Dogs, by Tom Waits (Album; 1985)

Rear Window (Film; 1954)

Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier (novel; 1938)

The Road Not Taken (Poem; 1925)

Robots in Toyland (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1965)

Rule Britannia, by Thomas Arne (Song; 1740)

Señorella and the Glass Huarache (WB LT Cartoon; 1964)

Shadows on the Rock, by Willa Cather (Novel; 1931)

Shootin’ Stars (Modern Madcaps Cartoon; 1960)

Shotgun Shambles (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1962)

Sick, Sick Sidney (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1958)

The Snows of Kilimanjaro, by Ernest Hemingway (Short Story; 1936)

Steel Wheels, by The Rolling Stones (Album; 1989)

Superiority, by Arthur C. Clarke (Short Story; 1951)

A Swiss Miss (Mighty Mouse Cartoon; 1950)

The 39 Steps (Film; 1935)

Tot Watchers (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1958)

Trouble in Baghdad (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1963)

Truant Officer Donald (Disney Cartoon; 1941)

The Trumpet of the Swan, by E.B. White (Children’s Book; 1970)

Turning the Fables (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1960)

The Twist, by Chubby Checker (Song; 1960)

Video Killed the Radio Star, by The Buggles (Music Video; 1981)

A Wedding Knight (Modern Madcaps Cartoon; 1966)

The Wiggles, by The Wiggles (Album; 1991)

Wild and Woolly Hare (WB LT Cartoon; 1959)

Witchy Woman, by The Eagles (Song; 1972)

Today’s Name Days

Alfons, Kenneth, Peter (Austria)

Alfonz, Jonatan (Croatia)

Oskar (Czech Republic)

Maira, Maire, Mairi, Maris (Estonia)

Maire (Finland)

Alphonse (France)

Alfons, Kenneth, Peter, Uwe (Germany)

Efkleos, Elesa, Markelos, Solomoni (Greece)

Boglárka (Hungary)

Alfonso, Giacomo (Italy)

Albīna, Albīns, Dags, Jarmuts, Spekonis (Latvia)

Almeda, Bartautas, Bartautė (Lithuania)

Peder, Petra (Norway)

Brodzisław, Justyn, Konrad, Konrada, Nadia, Piotr (Poland)

Božidara (Slovakia)

Alfonso, Caridad, Esperanza, Fe, Pedro (Spain)

Per (Sweden)

Charissa, Charity, Chasity, Cheri, Cherie, Cherry, Cheryl, Esperanza, Faith, Faye, Hope, Nadia, Nadine (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 214 of 2024; 152 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of Week 31 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Tinne (Holly) [Day 27 of 28]

Chinese: Month 6 (Xin-Wei), Day 27 (Ding-You)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 26 Tammuz 5784

Islamic: 25 Muharram 1446

J Cal: 4 Purple; Foursday [4 of 30]

Julian: 19 July 2024

Moon: 8%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 17 Dante (8th Month) [The Spanish Romancers]

Runic Half Month: Thorn (Defense) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 43 of 94)

Week: 1st Week of August

Zodiac: Leo (Day 11 of 31)

Calendar Changes

August (Gregorian Calendar) [Month 8 of 12]

[thammit]

“Population growth, ecological overshoot, the & restriction of women & girls into roles they didn't choose - pronatalism is at the heart of it all.”

Dianna Coole