Report: Consumption of Earth's resources unsustainable

(CBS News) The Earth's population is depleting our planet's natural resources at a rate faster than what is needed for those resources to be replenished, putting increased pressure on biodiversity and the health of ecosystems, according to a new report by the World Wildlife Fund.

The Living Planet Report 2012, a biennial report on the state of the planet, measures the planet's biocapacity - the rate at which natural resources are generated vs. human consumption, and the land area available to produce renewable resources and absorb CO2 emissions - and finds that humans are overextending their footprint on the planet.

Under the report's measurement unit of global hectares, or gha (one gha represents an average biologically productive hectare of land area needed to sustain human life), in 2008 the Earth's total biocapacity was 12.0 billion gha, or 1.8 gha per person. However, Mankind's Ecological Footprint - what was actually consumed - was 18.2 billion gha, or 2.7 gha per person.                  Full Read