# The mass of human stuff has overtaken Earth's biomass

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mass-of-human-stuff-has-overtaken-earths-biomass/928554>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 21, 2020, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mass-of-human-stuff-has-overtaken-earths-biomass/928554 "2020-12-21T17:48:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2020, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mass-of-human-stuff-has-overtaken-earths-biomass/928554/1 "2020-12-21T17:48:40Z")

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> **[Human-made materials now equal weight of all life on Earth](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/human-made-materials-now-equal-weight-of-all-life-on-earth)**
>
> The amount of concrete, asphalt, metal, and plastic on Earth is growing fast. This year may mark the point when artificial stuff outweighs living things.

> While the mass of Earth’s life forms stands at about 1.1 trillion metric tons (1.2 trillion U.S. tons) and has not changed much in recent years, the so-called “anthropogenic mass” of artificial materials is growing exponentially. The mass of everything people have built and made, from concrete pavements and glass-and-metal skyscrapers to plastic bottles, clothes, and computers, is now roughly equal to the mass of living things on Earth and could surpass that this year, according to [research](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-3010-5) published today in _Nature_ .
> 
> The finding may bolster the argument that Earth has entered the [Anthropocene](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2011/03/age-of-man/), a proposed geologic epoch in which humans are the dominant force shaping the planet. As senior study author Ron Milo of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel puts it, the world is undergoing a material transition that “happens not just once in a lifetime, but once in an era.”

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2020, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mass-of-human-stuff-has-overtaken-earths-biomass/928554/2 "2020-12-21T20:12:27Z")

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See also

> **[Land Mammals](https://xkcd.com/1338/)**
>
> Bacteria still outweigh us thousands to one--and that's not even counting the several pounds of them in your body.

We long ago overtook the biomass of mammals.