The planetary substrate, 12,000 years
The Civilization Record
The long-run background quantities the four layers stand on: population, land, energy, climate, water, matter, each a series back to 10,000 BCE.
Land and surface
The planet's solid surface is fixed: 149 million km² of land, 130 million of it ice-free. What changes is how much of that land is ploughed, grazed and built on, from nothing toward half.
Earth total surface area
million km²
10.000 BCE: 5102025 CE: 510
Ice-free land
million km²
10.000 BCE: 1252025 CE: 130
Forest area
billion hectares
10.000 BCE: 6,02025 CE: 4,1
Cropland
billion hectares
10.000 BCE: 02025 CE: 1,6 (log)
Pasture and grazing land
billion hectares
10.000 BCE: 02025 CE: 3,3 (log)
Built-up and infrastructure area
million km²
10.000 BCE: 02025 CE: 0,58 (log)
Human land footprint as share of ice-free land
%
10.000 BCE: 02025 CE: 42,2 (log)
Worth knowing
In 1900 half of land was wild; today a quarter.
The single largest land use is livestock grazing.
Total paved-road length is on the order of 40 million km.
Global mining land use is measured at 101,583 km².