Climate Change

This is how much of the Earth's surface humans have modified

Solar panels are seen on the construction site of a large-scale photovoltaic system of Swiss energy provider Axpo at some 2500 metres above sea level on the dam of Lake Muttsee, Switzerland August 19, 2021. Picture taken with a drone, August 19, 2021

Human impact on the Earth’s surface can take a number of different forms. Image: REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

Nick Routley
Creative Director & Writer, Visual Capitalist
Share:
Our Impact
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Climate Change is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:

Climate Change

a chart showing human impact on the eart's surfce
14.6% of the world's land area has been modified by humans. Image: Visual Capitalist
Have you read?

a map showing the human impact on Egypt's landscape
Almost all of Egypt’s population lives along the Nile and its delta. Image: Visual Capitalist
Discover

What is the World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Development Impact summit?

a map showing the human development of Rotterdam
The Netherlands has some of the heavily modified landscapes on Earth. Image: Visual Capitalist
a chat showing the human impact of west virginia
This mountainous region of West Virginia, in the United States, offers a very clear visual example of how we extra metals. Image: Visual Capitalist
Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Related topics:
Climate ChangePlastics and the EnvironmentSustainable DevelopmentMining and MetalsCities and Urbanization
Share:
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

European farmers are turning to tech and tradition to fight climate change. Here's how

Charlie Devereux, Antonella Cinelli and Corina Pons

September 27, 2023

About Us

Events

Media

Partners & Members

  • Join Us

Language Editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

© 2023 World Economic Forum