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Comparative Study
. 2020 Dec;588(7838):442-444.
doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-3010-5. Epub 2020 Dec 9.

Global human-made mass exceeds all living biomass

Emily Elhacham  1 , Liad Ben-Uri  1 , Jonathan Grozovski  1 , Yinon M Bar-On  1 , Ron Milo  2
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Global human-made mass exceeds all living biomass

Emily Elhacham et al. Nature. 2020 Dec.

Abstract

Humanity has become a dominant force in shaping the face of Earth1-9. An emerging question is how the overall material output of human activities compares to the overall natural biomass. Here we quantify the human-made mass, referred to as 'anthropogenic mass', and compare it to the overall living biomass on Earth, which currently equals approximately 1.1 teratonnes10,11. We find that Earth is exactly at the crossover point; in the year 2020 (± 6), the anthropogenic mass, which has recently doubled roughly every 20 years, will surpass all global living biomass. On average, for each person on the globe, anthropogenic mass equal to more than his or her bodyweight is produced every week. This quantification of the human enterprise gives a mass-based quantitative and symbolic characterization of the human-induced epoch of the Anthropocene.

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References

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