The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) has published a series of datasets called the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) which consist of satellite images of the Earth and census data on population over the past 40 years to illustrate the relationships between growing human populations, their locations, and the physical environment. For example, GHSL shows that over the past four decades, an 80 percent increase in the population has resulted in a 250 percent increase in developed areas. JRC also published a report analyzing its findings from GHSL called the Atlas of the Human Planet, which the European Union will use to support the United Nation’s Agenda 2030 plan to promote sustainable development.
Image: NASA.
