Pasture occupied roughly less than 1% of the global ice-free land area for a long time period until 1000 A.D.. In the centuries that followed the share of global pasture area grew from 2% in 1700 A.D. to 24% in 2000 A.D. (34 million km2). These profound land use changes have had, and will continue to have quite considerable consequences for global biogeochemical cycles and subsequently global climate change.