Human life and activities on planet Earth have an impact on the environment. Many everyday activities can affect the land and soil, water resources, biodiversity, air quality and the natural relationships between all of these.
Yet, the modern world is hard to imagine without the existence of economic activities and their outputs. It is therefore vital to acknowledge, track, and make efforts to minimize and mitigate their environmental impacts to ensure the future for the next generations.
The aim of this article is to track statistics about the impact caused by major economic activities on the environment – agriculture and deforestation, energy and air pollution, waste and soil and water pollution, and mining and its impact on the surrounding environments.
Environmental impact statistics
To fully understand the scope of the environmental impact caused by our activities, it is important to understand the numbers relating to the burning of fossil fuels, waste generation, deforestation, and mining that are discussed below.
What is the impact of burning fossil fuels on air quality?
Burning fossil fuels releases several major pollutants into the air such as nitrogen oxides which cause smog and acid rain, particulate matter (PM2.5) that is linked to severe health issues, sulfur dioxide and volatile organic compounds that can trigger respiratory diseases, and the infamous greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and methane, which drive climate change and worsen air quality.
Some key figures related to fossil fuels:
- Emissions from burning fossil fuel increased by 1.1% in 2023 over the 2022 levels, amounting to 36.8 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions in total.
- Methane, black carbon, hydrofluorocarbons, and tropospheric ozone are the short-lived climate pollutants that are accountable for nearly half of today’s rises in global temperatures.
- Air pollution, caused primarily by burning fossil fuels, is responsible for nearly 8.5 million premature deaths.
- Particulate air pollution reduces life expectancy by 2.2 years worldwide, resulting in a cumulative loss of 17 billion life-years.
What is the impact of waste accumulation?
Each year, the world generates over 2 billion tons of garbage and a large share of this is not handled in an environmentally neutral manner. The Gross Domestic Product of an economy and its garbage output are inextricably linked and the growing amount of waste is burdening many rapidly expanding countries. Fact: in 2020, the global direct cost of waste management reached $252 billion.
Suggested reading: World waste: statistics by country and brief facts
Check out some key figures related to solid and plastic waste:
- The amount of municipal solid waste was more than 732 million tons in 2022.
- Globally, 2.3 billion tons of municipal waste were generated in 2023; expanding cities are likely to double this amount to reach almost 4 billion tons by 2050.
- Annually, human activity generates plastic waste in a volume that exceeds 350 million metric tons.
- Without any change in management, the volume of plastic waste could reach 1 billion metric tons by 2060.
- In 2019, the use of clothing worldwide produced more than 20 million metric tons of plastic waste. It is believed that 40% of that waste was handled incorrectly causing “plastic leakage” which refers to macro- and micro-plastics that originated on land ending up in the ocean.
Global estimates of plastic waste accumulation by product from 2019 to 2040
Source: Statista
- Annually the ocean becomes “home” to about 14 million tons of plastic, impacting marine and coastal habitats.
What is the extent of deforestation on our planet?
Globally, forests are vanishing at an accelerated rate. Roughly 10% of all of Earth’s forests – an area larger than the European Union – has perished due to deforestation in the last three decades.
The primary cause of deforestation and forest degradation is human activity, which includes livestock grazing and agricultural production with large forest areas being turned into cropland.
Other major causes of deforestation include urbanization (building and expanding roads) and the overuse of wood.
Check out some of the key figures related to deforestation impacts on the environment:
- Ten million hectares of forest are estimated to be cut down annually, according to the UN FAO. This is still less than the 16 million hectares lost on an annual basis in the 1990s.
- Each year’s loss of forests adds around 5 billion tons of CO2 to the atmosphere, or roughly 10% of all yearly human emissions. This makes up roughly 16% of the total cover lost by trees.
- Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo top the list of nations facing highest rates of deforestation.
Suggested reading: The effects of deforestation on humans, the environment and biodiversity
How does mining impact the environment?
Mining may stimulate economic growth and provide employment opportunities but mining operations impact land and biodiversity, producing hazardous chemicals and polluting the environment.
The mining industry is expected to continue to expand and reach a market value of up to $2775.5 billion by 2027. The commodities that are most heavily exploited globally are copper, coal, iron ore, and potash.
Check out some of the key figures related to mining’s impact on the environment:
- The mining sector is solely to blame for 10% of global carbon emissions.
- The total area used for mining land is around 120,000 square sq km. but just 44% of it is documented.
- The annual cost of damage caused by emissions from the mining sector is thought to be close to $3 trillion.
- By 2050, the extraction of minerals such as cobalt and lithium could increase by around 500% and the infrastructure construction required to meet worldwide environmental targets will require 3 billion tons of minerals and metals.
Final word
Economic growth helps people to escape poverty but it also contributes to an increasing amount of waste, high air pollution levels, and deforestation. Despite huge investments in green technology and the global goal of transitioning to a higher level of sustainability, numerous industries and nations still depend on fossil fuels. Moreover, the amount of global waste is still staggering, and statistics show that it will continue to increase if we fail to handle it properly.
