2026-05-04 · percent of global land soils
A third of soils are degraded
Erosion, compaction, and salinity shrink fertile land. Recovery takes centuries.
Climate grids hide gigatonnes behind identical squares — the gradient is political once you see the cell count. This grid divides land soils (2026 snapshot) into colored bands — Moderately or severely degraded and Stable or improving — using equal squares so you compare shares, not country size on a map.
1 cell = 0.1 percent of global land soils (0.1% of land soils) · 1,000 cells
Context
The 2026 figures from FAO soil report put Stable or improving at 67% of land soils and Moderately or severely degraded at 33% — about 100 percent of global land soils in this edition's rounding.
FAO Status of the World's Soil Resources ~33% degraded.
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Credit this grid as Inagrid — https://inagrid.com/e/2026-05-04-soil-erosion