World populationTotal number of living humans on EarthHigh, medium, and low projections of the future human world populationIn world demographics, the world population is the total number of humans currently alive. It was estimated by the United Nations to have exceeded 8 billion (8,000,000,000) on November 15, 2022. It took around 300,000 years of human prehistory and history for the human population to reach a billion and only 218 more years from there to reach 8 billion.
Human impact on the environmentHuman impact on the environment (or anthropogenic environmental impact) refers to changes to biophysical environments and to ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources caused directly or indirectly by humans.
Demographic transitionDemographic transition is a phenomenon and theory in the social sciences (especially demography) referring to the historical shift from high to low rates of birth and death, as societies attain several attributes: more technology, education (especially for women), and economic development.Population (human biology)A human population is the set of people living in a particular geographic area, increasing or decreasing in size over time, but in human biology, a human population may be defined more precisely as "a group of individuals who are more likely to mate among themselves than among others", which is influenced by a number of social and cultural factors.
Agricultural productivityAgricultural productivity is measured as the ratio of agricultural outputs to inputs. While individual products are usually measured by weight, which is known as crop yield, varying products make measuring overall agricultural output difficult. Therefore, agricultural productivity is usually measured as the market value of the final output. This productivity can be compared to many different types of inputs such as labour or land.
OverconsumptionResource use exceeding carrying capacity Anti-Shein protest, Grenoble, France. Overconsumption describes a situation where consumers overuse their available goods and services to where they cannot, or do not want to, replenish or reuse them. In microeconomics, this is the point where the marginal cost of a consumer is greater than their marginal utility. The term overconsumption is quite controversial and does not necessarily have a single unifying definition.
Black Death1346–1353 plague pandemic in Eurasia and North AfricaThe Black Death was a plaguepandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the most fatal pandemics in human history, leading to the death of up to 50 million people, around 30% to 60% of the European population and approximately 33% of the Middle Eastern population.
OverexploitationOverexploitation, also called overharvesting or ecological overshoot, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish itself. The term applies to various natural resources, such as water aquifers, grazing pastures and forests, wild medicinal plants, fish stocks, and other wildlife.Sustainability strategiesSustainability strategies are mechanisms that contribute to achieving sustainability and are well-established in the field of sustainability science. Originally, the term centered on a triad introduced by Joseph Huber, encompassing sufficiency, efficiency, and consistency. Each of these strategies has since developed its own school of thought, emphasizing different merits and contributions to sustainability.Human development (economics)The concept of human development expands upon the notion of economic development to include social, political and even ethical dimensions.
Climate changeHuman-caused changes to climate on EarthChanges in surface air temperature over the past 50 years. The Arctic has warmed the most, and temperatures on land have generally increased more than sea surface temperatures.Earth's average surface air temperature has increased about 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) since the Industrial Revolution.
Biodiversity lossExtinction of species or loss of species in a given habitatSummary of major environmental-change categories that cause biodiversity loss. The data is expressed as a percentage of human-driven change (in red) relative to baseline (blue), as of 2021.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.