The Human Impacts Database

A collection of useful numbers for quantifying the impacts of the human presence on Earth.


Quantity Value HuID Source Type
Global surface temperature change 1.08 ± 0.09 °C 12147 Met Office Hadley Centre
Global surface relative humidity change -0.62 ± 0.29 %rh 13406 Met Office Hadley Centre
Total watershed Nitrogen input from sewer systems ≈ 4 × 109 kg N / yr 13501 Tuholske, Cascade; Halpern, Benjamin S.; …
CH4 emissions from rice paddies ≈ 2.5 × 1010 kg CH4 / yr 14300 FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization …
Global annual concrete production (2 ± 0.3) × 1013 kg / yr 16995 Krausmann, F., Wiedenhofer, D., Lauk, …
Antarctic ozone hole area ≈ 2.4 × 1013 m2 17066 NASA Ozone Watch
Mass of nitrogen needed for egg production (2.5 ± 1.0) × 10-2 kg Nr / Mcal 18599 Eshel, G., Shepon, A., Makov, …
CO2 emissions of light-duty vehicles in the United States ≈ 0.21 kg CO2 / km 21001 United States Environmental Protection Agency
Pre-industrial atmospheric CH4 concentration ≈ 700 parts per billion 21785 MacFarling Meure, C., D. Etheridge, …
Nitrogen emissions from farmed bivalve production ≈ -150 - -100 kg N /t 23066 Gephart, J.A., et al.
CO2 emissions from land-use change (5.5 ± 2.6) × 1012 kg CO2 / yr 24789 Friedlingstein, P., Jones, M. W., …
Global annual plastic production (2.9 ± 0.4) × 1011 kg / yr 25437 Krausmann, F., Wiedenhofer, D., Lauk, …
Global cement production ≈ 4.4 × 1012 kg / yr 25488 United States Geological Survey
Atmospheric N2O concentration ≈ 334 parts per billion 25529 NOAA ESRL Global Monitoring Laboratory
Atmospheric CH4 growth rate {1.7 (+0.27, -0.28)} × 1010 kg CH4 / yr 30725 Saunois, M. et al.