Editing Earth (section)

=== Natural resources and land use ===
{{Main|Natural resource|Land use}}
[[File:Global land use for food production, OWID statistic.png|thumb|upright=1.3|Earth's land use for human agriculture in 2019]]
Earth has resources that have been exploited by humans.<ref>{{cite news|title=What are the consequences of the overexploitation of natural resources?|work=[[Iberdrola]]|url=https://www.iberdrola.com/environment/overexploitation-of-natural-resources|access-date=28 June 2019|archive-date=27 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627223353/https://www.iberdrola.com/environment/overexploitation-of-natural-resources|url-status=live}}</ref> Those termed [[non-renewable resource]]s, such as [[fossil fuel]]s, are only replenished over geological timescales.<ref>{{cite journal|date=20 April 2016|title=13. Exploitation of Natural Resources|url=https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/92-826-5409-5/page013new.html|journal=[[European Environment Agency]]|publisher=[[European Union]]|access-date=28 June 2019|archive-date=27 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627223352/https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/92-826-5409-5/page013new.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Large deposits of fossil fuels are obtained from Earth's crust, consisting of coal, petroleum, and natural gas.<ref>{{cite news|last=Huebsch|first=Russell|date=29 September 2017|title=How Are Fossil Fuels Extracted From the Ground?|work=Sciencing|publisher=[[Leaf Group]] Media|url=https://sciencing.com/how-are-fossil-fuels-extracted-from-the-ground-12227026.html|access-date=28 June 2019|archive-date=27 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627224408/https://sciencing.com/how-are-fossil-fuels-extracted-from-the-ground-12227026.html|url-status=live}}</ref> These deposits are used by humans both for energy production and as feedstock for chemical production.<ref>{{cite web|title=Electricity generation – what are the options?|url=http://www.world-nuclear.org/nuclear-basics/electricity-generation-what-are-the-options.aspx|access-date=28 June 2019|work=[[World Nuclear Association]]|archive-date=27 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627224414/http://www.world-nuclear.org/nuclear-basics/electricity-generation-what-are-the-options.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> Mineral [[ore]] bodies have also been formed within the crust through a process of [[ore genesis]], resulting from actions of [[magmatism]], erosion, and plate tectonics.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Brimhall|first1=George|date=May 1991|title=The Genesis of Ores|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24936905|journal=Scientific American|publisher=Nature America|volume=264|pages=84–91|doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0591-84|jstor=24936905|access-date=13 October 2020|number=5|bibcode=1991SciAm.264e..84B|archive-date=6 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106131241/https://www.jstor.org/stable/24936905|url-status=live}}</ref> These metals and other elements are extracted by mining, a process which often brings environmental and health damage.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lunine|first=Jonathan I. |author-link=Jonathan Lunine|title=Earth: Evolution of a Habitable World|publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-521-61519-8 |edition=second|pages=292–294}}</ref>

Earth's biosphere produces many useful biological products for humans, including food, wood, [[pharmaceutical]]s, oxygen, and the recycling of organic waste. The land-based ecosystem depends upon [[topsoil]] and fresh water, and the oceanic ecosystem depends on dissolved nutrients washed down from the land.<ref name="science299_5607_673" /> In 2019, {{convert|39|e6km2|e6sqmi|abbr=unit}} of Earth's land surface consisted of forest and woodlands, {{convert|12|e6km2|e6sqmi|abbr=unit}} was shrub and grassland, {{convert|40|e6km2|e6sqmi|abbr=unit}} were used for animal feed production and grazing, and {{convert|11|e6km2|e6sqmi|abbr=unit}} were cultivated as croplands.<ref name="OWID_2019" /> Of the 12{{En dash}}14% of ice-free land that is used for croplands, 2 [[percentage point]]s were irrigated in 2015.<ref>{{Cite book |author=IPCC |title=IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land |year=2019 |page=8 |chapter=Summary for Policymakers |author-link=IPCC <!-- |display-authors= 4 --> |chapter-url=https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/4/2019/12/02_Summary-for-Policymakers_SPM.pdf |access-date=25 September 2020 |archive-date=17 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217135758/https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/4/2019/12/02_Summary-for-Policymakers_SPM.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Humans use [[building material]]s to construct shelters.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tate|first1=Nikki|author-link=Nikki Tate|title=Take Shelter: At Home Around the World|last2=Tate-Stratton|first2=Dani|year=2014|publisher=Orca Book Publishers|isbn=978-1-4598-0742-6|page=6}}</ref>