Human-made objects are now heavier than living things on Earth
Recommended for Middle Grades
Every day, humans around the world are creating new buildings, roads and objects. Whether they are made of plastic, concrete, or metal, they are all considered human-made objects (not forming naturally).
Showing the impact of all this, a new study says that this year (2020) marks the point when human-made objects have become heavier than the total mass of Earth’s living things.
This story was carried out by scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science.
They found that the total mass of human-made materials (such as concrete, steel and asphalt) has increased rapidly since 1900. At that time, it was only around 3% of Earth’s living biomass. Living biomass includes plants, animals and microorganisms. Plants comprise of 90% of the Earth’s living biomass
However, now, human-made objects now weigh roughly 1 teratonne (1 trillion tonnes). 1 tonne is equal to 1000 kg. At the same time, living biomass on Earth has decreased. Today, according to the study, all the living biomass on Earth weigh roughly 1 teratonne. This is half of what they weighed about 12,000 years ago.
The future of Earth
This increase in man-made objects will continue to increase in the future. For the last five years, every week, we produce more than the equivalent of the bodyweight of every person in the world. All this just shows us show how humans are transforming the Earth.
Curious Times is committed to providing the best experience and news to children. We bring to you the Curious Times Weekly with the top news of the week. You can also check out The Curious Magazine, the first children’s magazine with all the great content by the children, for the children. We would love for you, dear children, to write and get your stories, art, thoughts and more published at My Expressions. You can share all your published content through social media sharing links available on Curious Times.
Over 300,000 children are benefitting from Curious Times today! We continue to seek your valuable feedback to serve you better. Feel free to write to us at hello@curioustimes.in.You can also follow us on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Youtube, Twitter, LinkedIn.
0 (Please login to give a Curious Clap to your friend.)