Land Use change

Facts

Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. 

• Total world land area suitable for cropping: 4.4 billion hectares

• Percent of the total world cultivated area that is rainfed: 80% (1.2 billion ha)

• Total land area currently being cultivated: 1.6 billion hectares of which 20% (0.3 billion ha) is on marginally suitable lands

• Share of world land sources that are degraded: 25%

• Share that are moderately degraded: 8%

• Share that are improving: 10%

• In several regions, soil quality constraints affect more than half the cultivated land base, notably in sub-Saharan Africa, Southern America, Southeast Asia and Northern Europe.

Air Pollution

Facts

Fact 1: An average American breathe 2 gallons of air per minute which means around 3400 gallons of air each day.

Fact 2: Inhaling air pollution takes away at least 1-2 years of a typical human life.

Fact 3: It has effects as small as burning eyes and itchy throat to as large as breathing problems and death.

Fact 4: Pollutants that are released into the air, as opposed to land and water pollutants, are the most harmful.

Fact 5: Rising levels of air pollution in Beijing has brought a new disease – Beijing cough.

Fact 6: Air pollution is not a recent occurrence. In 1952, the Great Smog of London killed 8000 people.

Fact 7: Deaths caused by air pollution cost the European Union €161 billion.

FURTHER READING

Brunekreef, B., & Holgate, S. T. (2002). Air pollution and health. Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)11274-8

Kampa, M., & Castanas, E. (2008). Human health effects of air pollution. Environmental Pollution. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2007.06.012

Riojas-Rodríguez, H., Romieu, I., & Hernández-Ávila, M. (2017). Air pollution. In Occupational and Environmental Health. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190662677.003.0018

Temperature Anomaly

Temperature Anomaly Trends

• The average rate of increase since 1981 (0.17°C / 0.31°F) is more than twice as great.

• The 10 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998, and 9 of the 10 have occurred since 2005.

• According to IPCC 2007 report, sea levels will rise by 7-23 inches by the end of this century due to global warming

• Since 1880, the average temperature has risen by 1.4-Fahrenheit degrees.

• The last two decades of the 20th century have been hottest in the last 400 years, according to climate studies.

• The Arctic is one of the worst places to be affected by global warming.

FURTHER READING

Ruedy, R., Sato, M., & Lo, K. (2010). Global surface temperature change. Reviews of Geophysics. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010RG000345

Hansen, James, Sato, M., Ruedy, R., Lo, K., Lea, D. W., & Medina-Elizade, M. (2006). Global temperature change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0606291103

Vermeer, M., & Rahmstorf, S. (2009). Global sea level linked to global temperature. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0907765106

World Population

One of the most astounding facts about population is the sheer speed at which the world population is growing.

• The world population reached 7.6 billion as of mid-2017.

• The world has added approximately one billion inhabitants over the last twelve years.

• Even with the high death rates of those living in poverty, the world population is still expanding at an incredible rate.

• The world’s population is growing by 1.10 percent per year, or approximately an additional 83 million people annually.

• The global population is expected to reach 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100.

• 50.4 percent of the world’s population is male and 49.6 percent is female.

• The median age of the global population, that is, the age at which half the population is older and half is younger, is 30 years.

FURTHER READING

ONU. (2015). World population, ageing. Suggested Citation: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2015). World Population Ageing. https://doi.org/ST/ESA/SER.A/390

Population Reference Bureau. (2016). 2016 World Population Data Sheet. 2015 World Population Data Sheet. https://doi.org/10.2307/1972177

UN-DESA Population Division. (2017). World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision. In World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision.

United Nations / Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2009). World Population Prospects : The 2008 Revision. In Population Newsletter. https://doi.org/21 February 2014

Pollution

Pollution Statistics

Pollution is one of the biggest global killers, affecting over 100 million people. That’s comparable to global diseases like malaria and HIV.

Cleanups can save animals’ lives and discourage people from littering in the future. Take initiative and host a cleanup -- wearing anything but clothes! -- at a park near you. Sign up for 

In 1975, the National Academy of Sciences estimated that ocean-based sources, such as cargo ships and cruise liners had dumped 14 billion pounds of garbage into the ocean.

Over 1 million seabirds and 100,000 sea mammals are killed by pollution every year.

People who live in places with high levels of air pollutants have a 20% higher risk of death from lung cancer than people who live in less-polluted areas.

Further Reading

1. World Health Organization. "Climate change and health." 2014. Web Accessed April 25, 2015. ↩︎

2. Keep America Beautiful. “LITTER IN AMERICA.” 2010. Web Accessed April 25, 2015. ↩︎

3. California Coastal Commission. "Marine Debris." State of California. Web Accessed April 25, 2015. ↩︎

4. United Nations Environment Programme. "Marine Liter: Trash that Kills." Web Accessed April 25, 2015. ↩︎

5. Grens, Kerry. "Air pollution tied to lung cancer in non-smokers." Thomas Reuters, 2011. Web Accessed April 25, 2015. ↩︎