The human species? On Earth it is only 0,01%, but it has destroyed 83% of mammals

    The human species makes up only 0,01% of all life on Earth, but it has had the insane ability to eradicate most other living things. He reveals a new study, according to which, despite the insignificant numbers relating to man, the latter has dominated the planet.

    The human species makes up only 0,01% of all life on Earth, but it has had the insane ability to eradicate most other living things. He reveals a new study, according to which, despite the insignificant numbers relating to man, the latter has dominated the planet.





    The research tried, for the first time, to make a quantitative account of the biomass present on Earth, a sort of global census. It turns out that mankind is both insignificant and completely dominant in the grand scheme of life on Earth.

    According to the study, 7,6 billion people represent only 0,01% of all living things. However, since the dawn of civilization, humanity has caused the loss of 83% of all wild mammals and half of the plants, while livestock raised by humans abound.

    The new work is the first complete estimate of the weight of any class of living creatures and overturns some long-term assumptions. Bacteria are indeed an important life form, accounting for 15% of the total, but plants far outnumber all others, accounting for 82% of all living matter. Other creatures, from insects to fungi to fish and animals, make up only 5% of the world's biomass.

    "I was shocked to find that there was not already a complete and holistic assessment of all the different components of biomass", he said Prof. Ron Milo, of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, who directed the work, published in Pnas. "I hope this gives people a perspective on the truly dominant role humanity now plays on Earth."

    Researchers calculated biomass estimates using data from hundreds of studies, which often used modern techniques, such as satellite remote sensing that can analyze large areas and gene sequencing, capable of unraveling the myriad organisms of the microscopic world. .

    They started by evaluating the biomass of a class of organisms and then determined which environments could be populated by that specific life form globally. They thus discovered that all life "weighs" 550 billion tons.



    The plants boast 450 billion tons. In second place we find bacteria, equal to 70 billion tons. In descending order, we find fungi, archaea, protists, animals and viruses, which together account for the remaining 10%.

    The transformation of the planet by human activities has led scientists to sanction the start of a new geological era: the Anthropocene. One indicator of this change is provided by the bones of the domestic chicken, now ubiquitous around the world.

    According to the study, poultry farmed today represents 70% of all birds on the planet, compared to 30% of wild birds. The image is even more bleak for mammals: 60% of the total on Earth is made up of cattle and pigs, 36% by humans. Wild animals are just 4%.

    The human species? On Earth it is only 0,01%, but it has destroyed 83% of mammals

    The destruction of their habitats for human needs led to the beginning of what many scientists consider the sixth mass extinction. About half of Earth's animals have been lost in the past 50 years.

    Despite the supremacy of humanity, in terms of weight, Homo sapiens is a trifle. Viruses alone have a combined weight three times that of humans, as do worms. There are 12 times more fish than humans, and mushrooms 200 times more.

    This should be enough to make us reflect, to help us understand what our place on planet Earth really is.


    READ also:

    • Researchers update the tree of life: bacteria are masters of the world
    • The study that reveals the mystery of how the first animals on Earth appeared
    • The secrets of the origin of life on Earth in the Yellowstone microbes

    Francesca Mancuso


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