Human Climate Niche
Jan 25, 2023
According to the Dutch research ecologist Marten Scheffer and his colleagues, the optimum conditions for human civilization to flourish have a mean annual temperature of 11 to 15° C (51.8 to 59 °F). The ideal average temperature for national economic success is 13°C (55.4°F).
For mapping territories with mean annual temperature from 11°C to 15°C (51.8 to 59 °F), I used the raster image of the bioclimatic variable of Annual Mean Temperature (BIO1). According to the map globally, the Earth’s surface area with optimal conditions for human society to flourish is about 7.7 million square kilometers or 3,0 million square miles.
