November 5, 2007

The Land of the Earth ^(a)

(per capita)

The Earth	British System	Metric	System
	Acres (per capita)	Square meters (per capita)	Hectares (per capita)
Total Land Area (2005)	5 ^(b)	20,235	2
Productive Land (1999)	3	12,000	1.2 ^(c)
Arable Land (cropland) (2005)	0.5	2,100	0.21 ^(d)

^(a) One acre = 4,047 square meters = 0.405 hectares. Figures in bold indicate that this was the original source of the data. The equivalent figures are calculated from this original figure.

^(b) New York Times.

^(c) Trainer 2005, p. 279, summarized in Hall 2006a, pp. 17 and 43.

This figure of 1.2 hectares per capita available productive land, is a third more than the 0.8 hectares per capita predicted to be available by 2050.

In order to sustain a Arich world@ lifestyle, 10 hectares (7-12 hectares) of productive land per capita are needed (Trainer 2005, p. 279, summarized in Hall 2006a, pp. 17 and 43).

^(d) Pimentel et al 1996, p. 2. University of Michigan 2006, p. 2. Brown 2001, p.1. These three references summarized in Hall 2006b, pp. 11-12.

In 1996, Pimentel et al estimated that the total world cropland was approximately 15,000 billion square meters (1.5 billion hectares). The University of Michigan 2006a, and Brown 2001, p. 1, both use this estimate.

In 1996, Pimentel et al further estimated that a third of the total world cropland B that is, 15,000 billion square meters B had been lost due to erosion during the prior 40 years B a loss rate of 125 billion square meters per year. The cropland for subsequent years was calculated on this basis: For 2003: 15,000 billion - (125 billion x 7) = 14,103 billion square meters; For 2004: 14,103 - 125 = 13,978 billion square meters; For 2005: 13,978 - 125 = 13,853 billion square meters.

In 2005, the world population was 6,451,000,000. The cropland area was, therefore, 13,853 billion m² / 6.451 billion = 2,147 m² per person (0.21 hectares).

This figure of 0.21 hectares per capita available arable land, is less than half the 0.5 hectares per capita which was available in 1960 (McCluney 2005, p. 156, summarized in Hall 2006a, p. 5).

References

Brown, Lester. 2001. Eco-economy B building an economy for the earth. New York, N.Y.: W.W Norton. Chapter 3 online:

http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Eco/EEche ss3.htm. Accessed November 27, 2006.

Summarized in Francoise Hall, 2006b. AOur physical Environment, our Capacity to understand, our Morality and our Spirituality.@ November 24 (95 pages, unpublished).

McCluney, Ross, 2005. ARenewable Energy Limits@ (pp. 153-175) and APopulation, Energy and Economic Growth B the moral Dilemma@ (pp. 176-185), in Andrew McKillop with Sheila Newman, Editors. 2005. The final energy crisis. Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto.

Summarized in Francoise Hall, 2006a. AThe brief and disastrous Reign of Homo Petrolatum.@ September 30 (61 pages, unpublished).

Pimentel, David, Xuewen Huang, Ana Cordova, and Marcia Pimentel, 1996. AImpact of Population Growth on Food Supplies and Environment.@ Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Baltimore, MD. February 9.

http://www.dieoff.org/page57.htm. Accessed November 27, 2006.

Summarized in Francoise Hall, 2006b. AOur physical Environment, our Capacity to understand, our Morality and our Spirituality.@ November 24 (95 pages, unpublished).

Trainer, Ted, 2005. AThe simpler Way@ (pp. 279-288) in Andrew McKillop with Sheila Newman, Editors. 2005, The final energy crisis. Ann Arbor, MI: Pluto.

Summarized in Francoise Hall, 2006a. AThe brief and disastrous Reign of Homo Petrolatum.@ September 30 (61 pages, unpublished).

University of Michigan, 2006. AHuman Appropriation of the World=s Food Supply.@ Author unstated.

http://www.globalchange.unich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/food_supply/food.htm. Posted January 4, 2006. Accessed November 26, 2006.

Summarized in Francoise Hall, 2006b. AOur physical Environment, our Capacity to understand, our Morality and our Spirituality.@ November 24 (95 pages, unpublished).

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