Earth

“

"See the world we come from... There's no green there... They killed their mother... And they're gonna do the same here."

- Jake Sully, while praying to Eywa at the Tree of Souls.

”

Diameter	12742 km
Mass	5.97219 × 10^24 kg
Gravity	1.00 g (9.806 m/s^2)
Atmospheric density	1.2kg/cubic meter
Surface pressure	1013.25 millibars

Earth (Na'vi name: 'Rrta)^[1] is the third planet from the Sun, the largest of the four terrestrial planets, and the fifth largest and densest of the eight planets in the Solar System.

Description

Earth is the third planet of the Solar System, and the home planet of humanity. It is a relatively small planet compared to other and much larger planets in the Solar System such as Saturn and Jupiter, though it is quite large compared to most terrestrial planets in the Solar System, such as Mercury and Venus. By 2129, Earth had undergone significant deforestation coupled with near total extinction of wildlife on the ground and in the oceans. Due to the destruction of the natural environment and vast urban expansion, the Resources Development Administration (RDA), began to grow vast sea farms of edible protein and nutrient-rich algae, which was flavored with spices and other ingredients, in order to feed the twenty billion people of Earth both cheaply and effectively. Algae became the staple food for many humans on Earth and the Moon. The RDA also constructed a vast mass transit system that connects the entire globe, a maglev which requires unobtanium to function^[2]. Much of the eastern coast of America was damaged in a Tsunami event in the 2140s.^[3]

Earth was rocked by a significant intercontinental conflict in the 22nd century - the conflict in which Jake Sully was paralyzed - and from which the global energy crisis arose, with a great demand for natural resources. With much of Earth's natural resources depleted forever, all eyes on the planet turned to extraterrestrial worlds. Earth's space programs had, by this time, evolved to the point of being able to send a manned mission to the Alpha Centauri System, a nearby trinary star system, in which humanity found a diamond in the rough, the habitable moon of Pandora. In the hopes that the vast deposits of unobtanium located on Pandora could save Earth from its energy crisis, humans began vast mining operations that cut deep scars into the moon's surface.

In the 22nd century, the population of the planet had more than tripled since the previous century. Due to pollution, famine, poverty, and war, the population had topped out at around 20 billion people.^[4] The Earth is now a decaying world, covered in a haze of greenhouse gasses. Overpopulation, nuclear warfare, pollution, environmental terrorists, significant deforestation, world hunger, ozone depletion, resources depletion, water shortages, and overhunting of what is left of Earth's very few still living animal species are the main things that are slowly consuming what is left of the once beautiful planet.^[4]

Trivia

Futureset — New Zealand set for the Earth alley.

There were over four and a half minutes of Earth scenes that were originally supposed to be included into Avatar's opening sequence, but James Cameron felt that the film "started twice" and decided to take them out.^[5] All that is left in the original release are the flashbacks of Jake and the two RDA agents in the Municipal Crematorium. In the Extended Collector's Edition Blu-ray and DVD, however, these scenes are included in the Collector's Extended Cut.
It seems that the USA, Brazil, China, Germany, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain, and Venezuela still exist as sovereign government bodies on Earth by 2148, as they appear on the TV screen at the beginning of the bar sequence (Alternate Earth opening). A news broadcast also mentioned that the Bengal Tiger had been cloned back into existence at the Beijing Zoo. Quaritch also mentioned that he had toured with the First Recon in Nigeria and Jake Sully in Venezuela. The Survival Guide also states that there were massive deforestations in Brazil.
Many of today's brands still exist by 2148; these include Pepsi, Panasonic, Discover, McDonald's, 7-Eleven, Converse, etc.
According to an advertisement hologram, Mars has been heavily colonized and is a popular vacation spot.
According to the Project 880 script, all whale species and half of the fish species on the Earth had become extinct due to overfishing and intoxication, and the last lion living outside of captivity had died in Kenya.
Association football and pool are still popular sports and games, as shown in the opening Bar Scene.
Grace often wears a Stanford shirt while in her avatar body, indicating that Stanford University might still be in existence, or has existed in the recent past.
Dr. Seuss books are still popular in the time period, as The Lorax was one of the books used at Grace's school.
The UN DOT system for categorizing hazardous materials is still used by 2148, indicating that the UN still exists in some form.