The Human Impacts Database

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


Quantity Value HuID Source Type
Land area requirement for wheat production ≈ 1.7 m2 / yr / Mcal 10715 Eshel, G., Shepon, A., Makov, …
Land area requirement for poultry production 4 ± 1 m2 / yr / Mcal 13245 Eshel, G., Shepon, A., Makov, …
Fraction of coastal regions under high human pressure ≈ 47.9 % 14077 Williams, B. A., Watson, J. …
Land use for farmed trout production ≈ 2600 - 5000 m2 / t 16614 Gephart, J.A., et al.
Annual sediment mass produced via agricultural erosion ≈ 1.17 × 1013 kg / yr 19415 Wang, Z., Van Oost, K.
Global annual disrupted forest area due to urbanization (0.2 ± 0.1) × 1010 m2 / yr 19429 Curtis, P. G., Slay, C. …
Fraction of agricultural land that is pasture ≈ 68 % 22157 FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization) …
Global annual disrupted forest area due to shifting agriculture (7.5 ± 0.9) × 1010 m2 / yr 24388 Curtis, P. G., Slay, C. …
Global agricultural land use ≈ 4.7 × 1013 m2 29582 FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization) …
Average population density of urban land area ≈ 5.3 × 10-3 people / m2 30209 Florczyk, A., Corbane, C., Schiavina, …
Land area requirement for potato production ≈ 0.4 m2 / yr / Mcal 37568 Eshel, G., Shepon, A., Makov, …
Global annual disrupted forest area due to forestry (5.4 ± 0.8) × 1010 m2 / yr 38352 Curtis, P. G., Slay, C. …
Global urban land area (7.47 ± 0.15) × 1011 m2 39341 Liu, X., Hu, G., Chen, …
Average mining efficiency of coal ≈ 8.37 kg of waste / kg of coal 39407 Cooper, A. H., Brown, T. …
Land area requirement for egg production 3 ± 1 m2 / yr / Mcal 39661 Eshel, G., Shepon, A., Makov, …