Human world surpasses nature: Our technosphere is growing rapidly!

Human world surpasses nature: Our technosphere is growing rapidly!

The world as we know it is becoming increasingly difficult - and this is not just to be understood physically. According to a recent study coordinated by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Boku) in Vienna and McGill University in Canada, the technosphere, i.e. the entire infrastructure created by humans, has now reached a weight of around one trillion tons. This is simply astonishing, because it corresponds to the entire living biomass on Earth. This statement comes from Dominik Wiedenhofer, an expert at Boku, who states that the technosphere is growing by around three percent annually, meaning that the development of our built world is clearly reaching the same extent as the mass common to all living beings.

What exactly does the technosphere encompass? It includes not only buildings and roads, but also machines and digital infrastructure. About half of the mass comes from buildings, while another third is represented by transportation infrastructure such as bridges or pipelines. Interestingly, moving objects such as cars and airplanes only make up around two percent of the total mass, but their impact should not be underestimated. These mobile objects contribute significantly to resource consumption and the impairment of biodiversity and climate change.

The challenge of growth

The quantitative findings on the technosphere make it clear that rapid and sustained growth of this sphere poses a challenge to planetary boundaries. It has been shown again and again that the weight of the technosphere has doubled approximately every two decades since 1900. The research work also analyzes profound interactions between the technosphere and other earth spheres. These findings are particularly important for the development of sustainability strategies because they also shed light on the challenges posed by the Anthropocene, the “Age of Humans”.

Thanks to innovative research approaches, we can better understand how human societies are connected to the Earth system, with many variable ecological conditions and material flows playing a role. The interdisciplinary research examines the questions of how these structures bring about long-term changes and what feedback loops exist in the interactions.

A new perspective on the technosphere

In science, the term “anthroposphere” is often used to describe the area in which human activity influences the Earth system. Recent studies now suggest that the technosphere should be more clearly defined as a separate sphere of the Earth system. This not only creates new starting points for climate research, but also helps to develop resource-saving strategies for the future. Beyond the concept of the technosphere, the bottlenecks and necessary adjustments for a more sustainable life are also considered.

In summary, it can be said that the project to quantitatively record the technosphere not only represents a scientific milestone, but also shows an urgent need for action in the planning and use of our resources. It is a call for rethinking - because we are faced with the challenge of finding the balance between human progress and the limits of our planet. So the question remains: How do we shape our future without putting undue strain on the earth?

The detailed results and further information on this topic can be found in the relevant studies published by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences. The Max Planck Institute offers further insights into the interaction between the technosphere and the Earth system.