First time for human-made mass to exceed living biomass

According to a study by scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel) published in Nature on 9 December 2020, the weight of human-made objects such as concrete, asphalt/tarmac and metal - referred to collectively as "anthropogenic mass" - will likely exceed that of living things (i.e., biomass) by the end of 2020, for the first time in history. They estimate that biomass weighs in at approximately 1.1 trillion tonnes (1.2 trillion US tons) and that in 2020 anthropogenic mass reached a similar level, now accumulating at a rate of 30 billion tonnes (33 billion US tons) per year.

The paper estimates that for every person in the world, more than their body weight in anthropogenic mass (inanimate solid objects such as concrete - the main contributor, gravel, bricks, glass, metals, plastic) is now being produced each week. They suggest that if current trends continue, anthropogenic mass is on track to increase to 2.2 trillion tonnes (2.4 trillion US tons) - double that of all life on Earth - by 2040.

By contrast, at the start of the 20th century, the study's authors estimate that human-made material was "only" 35 billion tonnes (38.5 billion US tons) - or around 3% of global biomass.