Humans just 0.01% of all life but have destroyed 83% of wild mammals – study
Humankind is revealed as simultaneously insignificant and utterly dominant in the grand scheme of life on Earth by a groundbreaking new assessment of all life on the planet.
The world’s 7.6 billion people represent just 0.01% of all living things, according to the study. Yet since the dawn of civilisation, humanity has caused the loss of 83% of all wild mammals and half of plants, while livestock kept by humans abounds. The new work is the first comprehensive estimate of the weight of every class of living creature and overturns some long-held assumptions. Bacteria are indeed a major life form – 13% of everything – but plants overshadow everything, representing 82% of all living matter. All other creatures, from insects to fungi, to… Continue Reading (5 minute read)
Even more fascinating, 13% of biomass is sub-surface bacteria. That is insane.
I think this fact alone gives credence that we are in the anthropocene
Total biomass: 550 Gt
Plants: 450 Gt
Bacteria: 70 Gt
Fungi: 12 Gt
Archaea (think econo-model of bacteria) 7 Gt
Protists 4 Gt
Animals are 2 Gt
Out of the Animals 2 Gt they are subdivided like this:
Arthroprods (insects and crustaceans) 1 Gt
Fish 0.7 Gt
Molluscs 0.2 Gt
Annelids (worms) 0.2 Gt
Cnidarians (jellyfish, anemones..think aquatic crap that eats shit) 0.2Gt
Livestock 0.1 Gt
Humans (this is you) 0.06 Gt
Wild Mammals 0.007 Gt
Wild Birds 0.002 Gt
Cows are heavy
Fun Fact of the Day: Your mom makes up 96% of the human race’s biomass…
Anyone know how the lab grown meats are going? Are they ever going to be useful to replace meat or is eating less meat the only real option we have to reduce our greenhouse gas output?