Global human-made mass exceeds all living biomass

Elhacham, Emily; Ben-Uri, Liad; Grozovski, Jonathan; Bar-On, Yinon M.

doi:10.1038/s41586-020-3010-5

Cited by 494 publications

(232 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…As telling indicators of how much biomass humanity has transferred from natural ecosystems to our own use, of the estimated 0.17 Gt of living biomass of terrestrial vertebrates on Earth today, most is represented by livestock (59%) and human beings (36%)-only ∼5% of this total biomass is made up by wild mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians (Bar-On et al, 2018). As of 2020, the overall material output of human endeavor exceeds the sum of all living biomass on Earth (Elhacham et al, 2020).…”

Section: Biodiversity Lossmentioning

confidence: 99%

Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future

Bradshaw

Ehrlich

Beattie

et al. 2021

Front. Conserv. Sci.

367

210

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We report three major and confronting environmental issues that have received little attention and require urgent action. First, we review the evidence that future environmental conditions will be far more dangerous than currently believed. The scale of the threats to the biosphere and all its lifeforms—including humanity—is in fact so great that it is difficult to grasp for even well-informed experts. Second, we ask what political or economic system, or leadership, is prepared to handle the predicted disasters, or even capable of such action. Third, this dire situation places an extraordinary responsibility on scientists to speak out candidly and accurately when engaging with government, business, and the public. We especially draw attention to the lack of appreciation of the enormous challenges to creating a sustainable future. The added stresses to human health, wealth, and well-being will perversely diminish our political capacity to mitigate the erosion of ecosystem services on which society depends. The science underlying these issues is strong, but awareness is weak. Without fully appreciating and broadcasting the scale of the problems and the enormity of the solutions required, society will fail to achieve even modest sustainability goals.

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Section: Biodiversity Lossmentioning

confidence: 99%

Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future

Bradshaw

Ehrlich

Beattie

et al. 2021

Front. Conserv. Sci.

367

210

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show abstract

“…My underlying argument is that, among various types of communities, those briefly introduced here can provide suitable models and examples of simple living at an epochal geo-historical moment of radical transformation. Increasingly, research from across scientific fields confirms every day that we are confronted with a gargantuan crisis requiring revolutionary, not simply radical, solutions, with a set of worst-case scenarios first raised in the 1980s [21], then in 2009 [22,23], and now becoming ever more pressing [24,25] to the point of unredeemable unsustainability [26], regime shift [27], and multiple self-reinforcing feedback loops [28]. Unless addressed with unprecedented socio-economic measures, the coming changes are set to be vastly more traumatizing and life threatening than the passage from agricultural to industrial society, from the pre-modern world to modernity itself [2].…”

Section: The Science Behind the Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Exemplary Ethical Communities. A New Concept for a Livable Anthropocene

Conversi

2021

Sustainability

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This article argues that we need to look at living examples provided by non-state communities in various regions of the world that are, perhaps unwittingly, contributing to the maintenance of the Earth’s optimal thermal balance. These fully sustainable communities have been living outside the mainstream for centuries, even millennia, providing examples in the global struggle against the degradation of social–ecological systems. They have all, to varying degrees, embraced simple forms of living that make them ‘exemplary ethical communities’ (EECs)—human communities with a track record of sustainability related to forms of traditional knowledge and the capacity to survive outside the capitalist market and nation-state system. The article proceeds in three steps: First, it condenses a large body of research on the limits of the existing nation-state system and its accompanying ideology, nationalism, identifying this institutional–ideological complex as the major obstacle to tackling climate change. Second, alternative social formations that could offer viable micro-level and micro-scale alternatives are suggested. These are unlikely to identify with existing nation-states as they often form distinct types of social communities. Taking examples from hunter-gatherer societies and simple-living religious groups, it is shown how the protection and maintenance of these EECs could become the keystone in the struggle for survival of humankind and other forms of life. Finally, further investigation is called for, into how researchers can come forward with more examples of actually existing communities that might provide pathways to sustainability and resistance to the looming global environmental catastrophe.

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“…In 2020 the global anthropogenic mass outweighed all of Earth's living biomass. 1 Sand, gravel, and crushed rock, together referred to as construction aggregates, constitute the largest share of the anthropogenic mass and are the most extracted solid materials by mass. 2 Development debates have centered on globally traded metals, fossil fuels, and precious minerals, which have a high value per weight.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability of the global sand system in the Anthropocene

et al. 2021

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Sand, gravel, and crushed rock, together referred to as construction aggregates, are the most extracted solid materials. Growing demand is damaging ecosystems, triggering social conflicts, and fueling concerns over sand scarcity. Balancing protection efforts and extraction to meet society's needs requires designing sustainable pathways at a system level. Here, we present a perspective on global sand sustainability that shifts the focus from the mining site to the entire sand-supply network (SSN) of a region understood as a coupled human-natural system whose backbone is the physical system of construction aggregates. We introduce the idea of transitions in sand production from subsistence mining toward larger-scale regional supply systems that include mega-quarries for crushed rock, marine dredging, and recycled secondary materials. We discuss claims of an imminent global sand scarcity, evaluate whether new mining frontiers such as Greenland could alleviate it, and highlight three action fields to foster a sustainable global sand system. ll

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Global human-made mass exceeds all living biomass

Cited by 494 publications

References 61 publications

Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future

Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future

Exemplary Ethical Communities. A New Concept for a Livable Anthropocene

Sustainability of the global sand system in the Anthropocene

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