Man-made materials can now trump all living things on Earth, report says

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But about how many things have we actually created? And in the process, what part of the natural world have we consumed or destroyed?

New analysis reveals that on both planes, that’s a lot … so much, in fact, that these materials can now trump any living things left on Earth.

The year 2020 could be the year when the artificial mass exceeds the total weight of biomass – estimated at around 1,100,000,000,000 tonnes, or 1.1 teratons – a milestone according to scientists speaks of the enormous impact that humans have had it on the planet.

To perform their calculations, the researchers divided man-made objects into six main categories: concrete, aggregates (including materials like gravel), bricks, asphalt, metals, and “other” materials, which include plastic, wood used for construction and paper, and glass.

This mass is now overwhelmingly dominated by concrete, aggregates, bricks and asphalt, which today form the basis of modern buildings, roads and other infrastructure.

Vehicles drive along the Yan & # 39; elevated road year in Shanghai, China. New study reveals that the mass of encrusted material in our roads, cars and more can now exceed the total weight of all biomass on Earth.

The researchers did not factor in waste in their calculation, although if it had been factored in it would likely have tipped the scales in favor of man-made materials as early as 2013, according to the study.

Looking at the biomass, the authors found that plants make up the overwhelming majority of living things – around 90% – followed by bacteria, fungi, unicellular archaea, protists and animals. It also includes humans themselves, as well as crops and livestock raised for food.

The study reveals that humans have changed the planet at breakneck speed.

Since the first agricultural revolution began about 12,000 years ago, humans have reduced the world’s biomass by almost half, from 2 teratons to around 1.1 teratons today.

Although an ever-increasing amount of land on Earth is used to grow crops, its total mass is eclipsed by losses elsewhere in the biosphere, where deforestation and other human-induced changes in land use significantly reduced plant mass. The study found that hunting, overfishing and raising farm animals also reduced overall biomass.
Visitors watch a giant machine called a spreader dumping soil near an open-cast coal mine in Neupetershain, Germany. As people have significantly entered the natural world, they have also increased the production of materials over the past 120 years, according to a new study.

While the mass of organisms has continued to decline over the past 120 years, humans have dramatically accelerated the production of materials, making it the primary driver of the shift in balance between man-made materials and nature.

At the start of the 20th century, human-produced objects represented only 3% of the world’s biomass.

But the explosive growth has continued almost unabated since World War II. Today, the authors estimate that the artificial mass is produced at a rate of about 30,000,000,000 tonnes (30 gigatons) per year.

This means that, on average, materials exceeding the body weight of every person on the planet are produced every week.

If this rate continues, the mass produced by humans – including waste – is expected to exceed 3 teratons by 2040, tripling the weight of all living things.

Given the challenges of accounting for these huge global stocks of human-made mass and biomass – and how you define them both – the authors acknowledge that there is uncertainty as to exactly when we will reach the crossing point.

It’s possible that the transition point has already occurred in the past decade, and if not, it will occur in the next 20 years, according to the study.

The explosive growth in the use of concrete, aggregates, bricks and asphalt, which are the basis of modern buildings and roads today - like those seen in Los Angeles - is driving the global growth of man-made materials.

And although scientists say the discovery is symbolic, they say this milestone offers humanity a chance to take stock of how we got here – and what the future looks like.

“The study provides a symbolic and mass-based quantitative characterization of the Anthropocene – the geological age of the ‘era of humanity’,” said two of the study’s authors, Emily Elhacham and Ron Milo , in response to questions via email. “Given the empirical evidence on the accumulated mass of human artifacts, we can no longer deny our central role in the natural world. We are already a major player and with that comes a shared responsibility.”

Fridolin Krausmann, a professor at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna who has studied the interactions between nature and society but was not involved in this study, said the researchers’ findings show how large society has become compared to the natural world.

And although he said the results weren’t particularly surprising, he hopes they send a strong message to people and draw more attention to how modern societies can develop in a sustainable manner.

“It is the two highly problematic trends, which the study reports here, that are important: the relatively slow, but long-term, continuous, human-induced reduction in the global stock of biomass relative to the exponential anthropogenic growth. () mass, ”Krausmann said via email. “A better understanding of the dynamics and patterns of anthropogenic mass, and how they relate to service delivery and resource flows is essential for sustainable development. The big question is how much human mass do we have? we need for a good life. “

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