New satellite image database maps the dynamics of human presence on Earth
Wednesday, October 19, 2016 - 06:01
in Earth & Climate
Built-up areas on the Earth have increased by 2.5 times since 1975. And yet, today 7.3 billion people live and work in only 7.6% of the global land mass. Nine out of the ten most populated urban centres are in Asia, while five out of the ten largest urban centres are in the United States. These are some of the numbers calculated by a new global database which tracks human presence on Earth, launched on 18 October 2016 by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III).