The Human Impacts Database

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


Quantity Value HuID Source Type
Fraction of coastal regions under high human pressure ≈ 47.9 % 14077 Williams, B. A., Watson, J. …
Global annual disrupted forest area due to urbanization (0.2 ± 0.1) × 1010 m2 / yr 19429 Curtis, P. G., Slay, C. …
Average population density of urban land area ≈ 5.3 × 10-3 people / m2 30209 Florczyk, A., Corbane, C., Schiavina, …
Global urban land area (7.47 ± 0.15) × 1011 m2 39341 Liu, X., Hu, G., Chen, …
Global urban land area ≈ 6.5 × 1011 m2 41339 Florczyk, A., Corbane, C., Schiavina, …
Mass of earth moved globally due to urbanization > 1.4 × 1014 kg / yr 59640 Cooper, A. H., Brown, T. …
Fraction of coastal regions under low human pressure ≈ 15.5 % 87267 Williams, B. A., Watson, J. …
Fraction of global population living in urban areas ≈ 55 % 93995 FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization) …