How much stuff will you give and receive this holiday season? Add it to the growing pile, the 30-trillion-tonne pile. ThatB次元官网网址檚 how much technology and goods humans have produced, according to a study by an international team led by EnglandB次元官网网址檚 University of Leicester. It adds up to more than all living matter on the planet, estimated at around four trillion tonnes.
Scientists have dubbed these times the B次元官网网址淎nthropocene,B次元官网网址� because humans are now the dominant factor influencing EarthB次元官网网址檚 natural systems, from climate to the carbon and hydrologic cycles. Now theyB次元官网网址檙e labelling our accumulated goods and technologies B次元官网网址� including houses, factories, cars, roads, smartphones, computers and landfills B次元官网网址� the B次元官网网址渢echnosphereB次元官网网址� because itB次元官网网址檚 as large and significant as the biosphere, atmosphere and hydrosphere. Researchers estimate it represents 50 kilograms for every square metre of EarthB次元官网网址檚 surface and is 100,000 times greater than the human biomass it supports.
As CBC science commentator Bob McDonald wrote, B次元官网网址淥ur technology is a super-organism that competes with the biosphere for resources, and is winning that competition by taking over the surface of the planet.B次元官网网址�
Report co-author Mark Williams explained the significance: B次元官网网址淭he technosphere can be said to have budded off the biosphere and arguably is now at least partly parasitic on it. At its current scale, the technosphere is a major new phenomenon of this planet B次元官网网址� and one that is evolving extraordinarily rapidly. Compared with the biosphere, though, it is remarkably poor at recycling its own materials, as our burgeoning landfill sites show. B次元官网网址�
Living systems renew and recycle. Organisms die, get eaten or absorbed by other organisms, and other life takes their place. But much of what we produce takes enormous amounts of natural, mostly finite resources to make and breaks down slowly, if at all. It covers the land and fills oceans, and even extends into space. As the human population grows and consumerism shows no signs of abating, the technosphere expands, causing pollution, contamination and resource depletion, further upsetting the delicate natural balance that keeps our planet habitable for humans and other life.
Many things weB次元官网网址檝e invented have made our lives easier. But much is unnecessary and, weB次元官网网址檝e learned, a lot comes with consequences we didnB次元官网网址檛 foresee B次元官网网址� such as climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions from our obsession with private automobiles and cheap energy.
If this pace continues, weB次元官网网址檒l leave a fascinating fossil record for any intelligent species that comes across our planet in the future. But that may be all. If we want to survive as a species, we must get a handle on population growth and consumerism. ItB次元官网网址檚 something to consider this time of year, when so much time and energy is spent on acquiring new stuff.
Although population growth is starting to stabilize, curtailing growth requires greater access to effective, voluntary family planning and birth control, increased womenB次元官网网址檚 rights including the right to make decisions about their bodies and reproduction, and reducing poverty.
We can all do our part to reduce consumption. We might find weB次元官网网址檙e happier when we do. At the end of his life, my father didnB次元官网网址檛 talk about accomplishments or possessions or wealth. He talked about connections to friends and family and shared experiences.
ThatB次元官网网址檚 what life is about. A new car or smartphone wonB次元官网网址檛 make you happier in the long run. Nor will it fill gaps caused by loneliness or lack of connection to others. That doesnB次元官网网址檛 mean we should live without material goods, but we should consider what we really need, and make sure we recycle items we can no longer use. Reduce, re-use and recycle! And reconsider what really makes us happy.
This holiday season, we should nurture connections to friends and family and give gifts that wonB次元官网网址檛 add to the technosphere. Share time, experiences and food. If you find yourself alone, consider volunteering to help others during what can be a difficult time.
May you all have a joyous season, focused on the important things in life. And may the new year bring humanity a greater understanding of what truly makes life worthwhile.
