The Human Footprint is an
ecological footprint
The ecological footprint is a method promoted by the Global Footprint Network to measure human demand on natural capital, i.e. the quantity of nature it takes to support people or an economy. It tracks this demand through an ecological accounti ...
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 harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
. It was first published in a 2002 article 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 ima ...
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 unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive use of artificial Visible spectrum, lighting. In a descriptive sense, the term ''light pollution'' refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting, during the day ...
, and human
population density
Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
.
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, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...
nor some of the
Small Island Developing States
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a group of developing countries that are small island countries which tend to share similar sustainable development challenges. These include small but growing populations, limited resources, remoteness, ...
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 or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...
.
See also
*
Carbon footprint
A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Greenhouse gases, including the carbon-containing gases carbo ...
: 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 to identify the last remaining 'wild' areas o ...
: a complementary global map produced in the same 2002 study that shows the wildest remaining areas of each
biome
A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...
References
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Environmental indices
Maps
Environmental impact assessment
Wildlife Conservation Society