#TBT August, 8th 2016: when will the world collapse?

Exactly one year ago - on August, 8th 2016 - we had the so-called World Overshoot Day. It means that by that date, we had consumed all the annually renewable resources on earth and started to live on credit, according to the Global Footprint Network.

Last week on August 2nd, all TV channels, newspapers and radios were simultaneously persuading us that we had "crossed the ecological line". Actually it is the same ecological line we're crossing every year: the Global Footprint Network makes quite unprecise and controversial predictions on the date when it's supposed to happen, and then changes them, a posteriori. 
Indeed, you can notice differences in the data: for the same year, you have two different dates for this Overshoot day. They argue it's because they constantly improve their estimation methods, taking into account more elements.  

I'll let you make your own conclusions concerning the accuracy and reliability of their calculus techniques, considering the fact that the GFN itself admits "It is not possible to verify the precision and reliability of all of the  underlying data, which may vary from country to country".

It is funny how the end of the world, and various thoughts about apocalypsis have become a paranoia - or at least global and self-sustaining fear - among scientists and the civil population. A tiny voice is constantly reminding us that our civilization will soon collapse, and that mankind bears the full responsibility of the destruction of its environment.  But wait, something like this was already scheduled for December, 21th 2012 (according to a Maya Calendar), remember?

Seems like the scientists working on those topics don't suffer from a lack of imagination. Here's another example of an apocalypsis scenario.

Created in 1947, the Doomsday Clock calculates how much time we have left until the actual end of the world. On a fictive scale of 24 hours - which represents the total duration of earth's existence - it estimates that it's now 11:57 PM. Quite stressing, isn't it? But the best part comes next:  the clock was originally set to 11:43 PM in 1947 (which is already pessimistic). And the progression of time on this very special clock IS NOT LINEAR.

Source: Wikipedia

Basically, this Clock is just a representation, a symbol elaborated by scientists who identify the risks and different events that could potentially have an impact on our planet: climate change, massive pollution, nuclear war… Depending on the intensity of the threat, the time can accelerate, so that we get closer to the end. It is however interesting to point out that the alarming "11:57PM" is linked to the "rise of 'strident nationalism' worldwide", these scientists say.  

Let's remind that in the Bible (Matthew, 24:36), it is clearly said that  "concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.". Our friends from Global Footprint Network should have incredible superpowers then… or just an excessive vainglory.