The amount of man-made materials and structures – such as concrete and steel – now equals the amount of natural, organic life on the planet (also known as biomass), according to a new study from the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Even more startling, that equality won't last long. In fact, the amount of man-made materials (also known as anthropogenic mass) is expected to be double the Earth's biomass by 2040.
The study, published in the academic journal Nature and led by Emily Elhacham and Liad Ben Uri of Prof. Ron Milo's group in the Plant and Environmental Sciences Department, analyzed the growth of man-made material throughout the years, and estimated that the amount created annually sees the total anthropogenic mass double in size every 20 years.
This is a stark contrast to the beginning of the 20th century, when the anthropogenic mass was only around 3% of the biomass.
According to the study, the sharp rise in anthropogenic mass growth began in the 1950s, as part of the "great acceleration" after the Second World War. This saw new homes, roads and buildings spring up worldwide as concrete and aggregates, along with other materials, became more widespread. And, most notably, this acceleration hasn't stopped, with concrete and aggregates playing a major role in the continued exponential growth of anthropogenic mass.
“The study provides a sort of ‘big picture’ snapshot of the planet in 2020,” Milo said in a statement.
“This overview can provide a crucial understanding of our major role in shaping the face of the Earth in the current age of the Anthropocene.”
In total, for every person alive today, an amount of anthropogenic mass greater than their body weight is made on average every single week.
For scaling, the researchers teamed up with graphic artist Itai Raveh to create a website, Anthropomass.org. Here, they explain the scale of this problem with examples. For instance, the Eiffel Tower has the weight of 10,000 rhinos, and New York City has approximately the combined weight of every single fish in the world.
With policies and industry keeping its current pace since the 1950s, this isn't likely to change any time soon. This demonstrates the central role humans play in the world, and shows how humanity's global footprint has grown beyond its metaphorical "shoe size," according to Milo, who hopes that humanity as a species begins to take responsibility.
“The message to both the policy makers and the general public is that we cannot dismiss our role as a tiny one in comparison to the huge Earth,” he explained.