One percent population growth, then and now
Here’s an illustration I’ve meant to create for a while. Population growth when most of the Earth is unpopulated is different than when we’ve populated nearly every place we can.
I think it tells a story, and an important one: growing our population today, even a small amount, affects the world very differently than when humans comprised a small fraction of life on Earth.
![](https://i0.wp.com/joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/RelativeHumanImpact-1.jpg?resize=682%2C581&ssl=1)
Illustrations that prompted it
Maybe you’ve seen these images before that prompted it.
![weight vertebrate land animals](https://i0.wp.com/joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/weightvertebratelandanimals.png?resize=577%2C407&ssl=1)
![mammals lost](https://i0.wp.com/joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/mammals_lost.png?resize=505%2C391&ssl=1)
![wild mammals lost](https://i0.wp.com/joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/wildmammalslost.png?resize=469%2C311&ssl=1)
![humans livestock wild animals](https://i0.wp.com/joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/humans_livestock.jpg?resize=457%2C344&ssl=1)
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On initiative, leadership, the environment, and burpees