The human footprint represents observable human pressures: Reply to Kennedy et al.

The Human Modification map differs in important ways from the map of the human footprint, such as its mapping of widespread direct modification of much of the world's polar regions. An extensive validation reveals large inaccuracies in the Human Modification map, and that the human footprint tends to better represent actual observable human pressures on the ground. This article is a commentary on Kennedy et al., 25, 811-826; See also the Commentary on this article by Kennedy et al., 26, 333-336.