It is estimated that this month, the human population reached 7.7 billion inhabitants, and the latest projections suggest it will take five or six years to cross the 8 billion mark. Now, these numbers are easy to understand on paper, but what can we do to visualize them? The Human Terrain portal does the heavy lifting for us and presents a 3D map with the approximate population of each region.
Advances in medicine and the impact of the Industrial Revolution gave rise to a staggering population explosion. Humanity needed 200,000 years to reach 1 billion people, but it multiplied by seven in little over 200 years. No one denies that we face gigantic challenges ahead, ranging from agriculture and access to safe water to the design of new spaces, pollution, and climate change. However, to tackle these problems head-on, we must have a deep understanding of our current situation, and that is not always easy. Through the Web, we have found several projects that help us visualize the human population beyond simple numbers, but one of the best is Human Terrain, created by Matt Daniels.
Visualizing Humanity in 3D
Instead of traditional maps and color groups, Human Terrain represents humanity in three dimensions. The most populous cities feature ascending green blocks that reflect the approximate size (between 250 and 500 square meters) and density (the taller they are, the greater the number of people living there). Human Terrain also makes some very interesting comparisons. For example, in the United States there are 320 million people with 10 cities exceeding one million inhabitants, but China has 100 cities that exceed the one million mark, and the entire area near Hong Kong is three times New York City in population.
Not All Growth
The charts show a lot of green, but as expected, not everything is growth. Human Terrain can identify the most important points of decline in relation to the last 25 years of recorded data (the Detroit-Cleveland-Pittsburgh belt is a striking example of this), and place side by side maps with the population of 1990 and 2015. In contrast, the population increase in Africa has been notable, and it is estimated that by the year 2100, 1 in 3 people will live on that continent. Don't miss exploring your region, and we definitely recommend following the virtual guide.
