Global Soil Loss 2001-2012 (ESDAC - JRC, 2019)

Assessment of global soil erosion for 2001 - 2012 [t ha-1 yr-1] based on Global Soil Erosion Modelling platform (GloSEM). Human activity and related land use change are the primary cause of accelerated soil erosion, which has substantial implications for nutrient and carbon cycling, land productivity and in turn, worldwide socio-economic conditions. Here we present an unprecedentedly high resolution (250 × 250 m) global potential soil erosion model, using a combination of remote sensing, GIS modelling and census data. We challenge the previous annual soil erosion reference values as our estimate, of 35.9 Pg yr−1 of soil eroded in 2012, is at least two times lower. In this study 202 countries are included with more than 125 million km2. The total soil loss has been estimated to 35 Pg yr-1 of soil eroded in 2001. The estimates are lower compared to past studies in 2012, 35.9 Pg yr-1 - Increase of 2.5% in soil erosion globally (due to land use change). Pixel size: 25km. Measurement Unit: t ha-1 yr-1 More information: Global Soil Erosion [https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/taxonomy/term/4756] Citation: Borrelli P., Robinson D.A., Fleischer L.R., Lugato E., Ballabio C., Alewell C., Meusburger K., Modugno, S., Schutt, B. Ferro, V. Bagarello, V. Van Oost, K., Montanarella, L., Panagos P. 2017. An assessment of the global impact of 21st century land use change on soil erosion [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-02142-7] Nature Communications, 8 (1): art. no. 2013