12-10-2020, 12:04 AM
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-55239668
Scientists say the weight of human-made objects will likely exceed that of living things by the end of the year.
In other words, the combined weight of all the plastic, bricks, concrete and other things we've made in the world will outweigh all animals and plants on the planet for the first time.
The estimated weight of human-made objects is about one teratonne.
For every person in the world, more than their body weight in stuff is now being produced each week.
These astonishing figures have been calculated by a team at the Weizmann Institute of Sciences in Rehovot, Israel, to show how our species is transforming the Earth.
Well, this sounds like it must have been a very difficult and laborious calculation - and I assume there are massive error bars on both totals, so perhaps the 'crossover point' was several years ago - or it could still be several years in the future.
Still, the really shocking stat from this is that the human-made stuff is likely to triple in mass by 2040 .
Scientists say the weight of human-made objects will likely exceed that of living things by the end of the year.
In other words, the combined weight of all the plastic, bricks, concrete and other things we've made in the world will outweigh all animals and plants on the planet for the first time.
The estimated weight of human-made objects is about one teratonne.
For every person in the world, more than their body weight in stuff is now being produced each week.
These astonishing figures have been calculated by a team at the Weizmann Institute of Sciences in Rehovot, Israel, to show how our species is transforming the Earth.
Well, this sounds like it must have been a very difficult and laborious calculation - and I assume there are massive error bars on both totals, so perhaps the 'crossover point' was several years ago - or it could still be several years in the future.
Still, the really shocking stat from this is that the human-made stuff is likely to triple in mass by 2040 .
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