The Human Footprint is an
ecological footprint
The ecological footprint measures human demand on natural capital, i.e. the quantity of nature it takes to support people and their economies. It tracks human demand on nature through an ecological accounting system. The accounts contrast the biolo ...
map of human influence on the terrestrial systems of the
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
. It was first published in a 2002 article in the journal ''
BioScience
''BioScience'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. It was established in 1964 and was preceded by the ''AIBS Bulletin'' (1951–1 ...
'' by Eric W. Sanderson, Malanding Jaiteh, Marc A. Levy, Kent H. Redford, Antoinette V. Wannebo, and Gillian Woolmer.
A map of human influence became possible with the advent of high-resolution
satellite imagery
Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell im ...
in the 1990s.
Method
The map is made to a resolution of and is an aggregate of eight factors: major roadways, navigable waterways, railways, crop lands, pasture lands, the
built environment
The term built environment refers to human-made conditions and is often used in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, public health, sociology, and anthropology, among others. These curated spaces provide the setting for human ac ...
,
light pollution
Light pollution is the presence of any unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive artificial Visible spectrum, lighting. In a descriptive sense, the term ''light pollution'' refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting sources, during the ...
, and human
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
.
In order to compare the effect of influence from different factors, the magnitude of influence for each factor was ranked on a scale of 0–10. These eight factors measure four types of data, which are cumulatively used as a measure of human influence: population density, land transformation, accessibility, and electrical power infrastructure.
The first Human Footprint map was published in 2002 with data that had been collected in the early 1990s, approximately 1993. In 2016, an updated map was published using the same methodology, using data from 2009.
Due to incomplete satellite imagery, the original Human Footprint map did not include
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
nor some of the
Small Island Developing States
The Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a grouping of developing country, developing countries which are small island country, island countries and small states that tend to share similar sustainable development challenges. These include s ...
of the Pacific Ocean. Marine and freshwater systems are excluded, as different factors would be necessary to map human influence.
Change over time
The Human Footprint increased by 9% from 1993 to 2009, at least partly attributable to a human population increase of 23% and a global economy increase of 153% during the same period.
Though population and economic growth far exceed the growth of the Human Footprint, the areas that saw increased human influence were those with the highest
biodiversity
Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...
.
See also
*
Carbon footprint
A carbon footprint (or greenhouse gas footprint) is a calculated value or index that makes it possible to compare the total amount of greenhouse gases that an activity, product, company or country Greenhouse gas emissions, adds to the atmospher ...
: the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent
*
Last of the Wild
Last of the Wild is an initiative created in 2002 on behalf of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of ...
: a complementary global map produced in the same 2002 study that shows the wildest remaining areas of each
biome
A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...
References
{{reflist
External link
Original publication
Environmental indices
Maps
Environmental impact assessment
Wildlife Conservation Society