The Human Impacts Database

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


Quantity Value HuID Source Type
Estimated global mean sea level rise since 1900 due to thermal expansion {5.68 (-0.08, + 0.10)} × 10-2 m 11827 Frederikse, T., Landerer, F., Caron, …
Global surface relative humidity change -0.62 ± 0.29 %rh 13406 Met Office Hadley Centre
Volume of water in ocean-connected rivers that are not free-flowing ≈ 3.62 × 1011 m3 15550 Grill, G., Lehner, B., Thieme, …
Southern Hemisphere sea ice extent 1.1502 × 107 km2 15616 Fetterer, F., K. Knowles, W. …
Annual increase in ocean surface H+ concentration 0.36 ± 0.03 % 19394 Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service
Median mass concentration of plastic in rivers ≈ 5.5 × 10-6 kg / m3 20155 Laurent C.M. Lebreton, Joost van …
Irrigated water requirement for pork production (1.9 ± 0.9) × 10-1 m3 / Mcal 22356 Eshel, G., Shepon, A., Makov, …
Global hydroelectric dam reservoir area ≈ 4.4 × 1011 m2 23616 FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization …
Irrigated water requirement for potato production ≈ 0.2 m3 / Mcal 24999 Eshel, G., Shepon, A., Makov, …
Southern Hemisphere sea ice area 8.627 × 106 km2 25465 Fetterer, F., K. Knowles, W. …
Global industrial water withdrawal ≈ 5.9 × 1011 m3 / yr 27142 FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization …
Global water volume used by humans 1.713 × 1012 m3 / yr 27342 Quin, Y., Mueller, N. D., …
Global glacier mass loss (2.78 ± 1.13) × 1014 kg / yr 32459 IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate …
Estimated global mean sea level rise since 1900 due to glacier meltwater {8.48 (+0.05, -0.04)} × 10-2 m 37314 Frederikse, T., Landerer, F., Caron, …
Irrigated water requirement for dairy production (1.7 ± 0.5) × 10-1 m3 / Mcal 39217 Eshel, G., Shepon, A., Makov, …