Final answer:
Human society is using resources and creating waste at an unsustainable rate due to factors like population growth, over-consumption, and global inequalities. Resource consumption rates in developed nations significantly exacerbate the environmental strain, highlighting the need to reduce our ecological footprint.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to the Global Footprint Network, human society is using resources faster and creating more waste at an unsustainable rate. This is due to a combination of factors including exponential population growth, over-consumption by affluent societies, and unequal distribution of resources leading to significant global inequalities. Evidence suggests that humanity's demand on the planet is more than what is available, with the ecological footprint of human activities outpacing Earth's capacity to regenerate these resources.
It's important to note that while population growth contributes to environmental strain, resource consumption rates in wealthy nations greatly exacerbate the problem. For example, the resource use rate in more developed nations can be more than 30 times higher than in less developed ones. If every human consumed as much as those in developed countries, multiple Earths would be needed to sustain the population. This dilemma highlights the need to balance resource use and reduce our overall ecological footprint to maintain a stable and sustainable environment.