Cropland per Capita

In the centuries that followed the share of global cropland increased to 2% in 1700 A.D. (ca. 3 million km2), and 11% in 2000 A.D.(15 million km2), while the share of pasture area grew from 2% in 1700 A.D. to 24% in 2000 A.D. (34 million km2) These profound land use changes have had, and will continue to have quite considerable consequences for global biogeochemical cycles and subsequently global climate change.

Some researchers suggest that mankind has shifted from living in the Holocene (~emergence of agriculture) into the Anthropocene (~humans capable of changing the Earth’ atmosphere) since the start of the Industrial Revolution. But in the light of the sheer size and magnitude of some historical land use changes (e.g. as result of the depopulation of Europe due to the Black Plague in the 14th century and the aftermath of the colonization of the Americas in the 16th century), we believe that this point might have occurred earlier in time.