It is a fact. For the first time in our history, materials made by humans now exceed all the biomass on our planet . This is attested by a new study by the Weizmann Institute of Sciences and collected by the journal Nature in which they examined changes in global biomass and human mass from 1900 to the present. The calculations were made in dry weight, excluding water. Recall that anthropogenic mass is defined as the mass embedded in inanimate solid objects made by humans not including debris.
A giant human footprint
The data is clear. The increasing production and accumulation of man-made objects (called anthropogenic mass) has contributed to a shift in the balance between living and man-made mass. And it is that skyscrapers, roads, houses, cars … everything that humanity is leaving as a legacy equals or exceeds the mass of everything that is alive on the planet (plants, animals). Although it is shocking, the calculation of both parameters has revealed that the creations of humanity weigh more on Earth than biomass.
As an example, scientists claim that plastic alone is already greater in mass than all land animals and sea creatures combined . Concrete, on the other hand, currently represents more than 40% of the entire annual anthropogenic mass with 549 gigatons produced each year. And the asphalt? Asphalt has steadily increased since its appearance in the 1930s, with the world’s growing road infrastructure and the desire that the demand for driving vehicles could reach everywhere. In 1940 only one gigaton of asphalt was produced. In 2020 that figure is 65 gigatons.
While humans might believe in “the vastness of the globe and the seeming infinity of the natural world,” the researchers clarify that they wanted to provide an objective and rigorous measure of the reality of the balance between man and nature.
Current situation in figures
- Man-made materials / objects : 1.1 trillion tons
- Biomass (animals, plants) : 1 billion tons
By estimating changes in global biomass and artificial mass since 1990, the research showed that the mass of man-made objects accounted for only 3% of the weight of biomass in the early 20th century.
However, there is a circumstantial change after this moment.
After the heyday that followed World War II, manufacturing has increased to the point where humans now produce, on average, the equivalent of the weight of every person on Earth each week.
Greater consumption and urban development
If we continue as before, this concrete jungle in which we live will reach more than two teratons (two billion tons), or more than double the mass of living beings, in the year 2040. And the weight of roads, buildings … it doubles roughly every 20 years.
“The face of the Earth in the 21st century is affected in an unprecedented way by the activities of humanity and the production and accumulation of man-made objects,” say the authors.
“This study adds to recent efforts to quantify and evaluate the scale and impact of human activities on our planet. The impacts of these activities have been so abrupt and considerable that it has been proposed that the current geological epoch be renamed the Anthropocene. Our study rigorously and quantitatively supports this proposal “, conclude the experts.
Referencia: Global human-made mass exceeds all living biomass, Nature (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-3010-5 , www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-3010-5
