Comments on: The biomass of humans http://www.sindark.com/2008/10/16/the-biomass-of-humans/ Temporarily Torontonian Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:08:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: . http://www.sindark.com/2008/10/16/the-biomass-of-humans/#comment-122493 . Tue, 07 Jun 2011 22:08:55 +0000 http://www.sindark.com/?p=3678#comment-122493 Almost 90% of the world’s plant activity, by some estimates, is to be found in ecosystems where humans play a significant role. Although farms have changed the world for millennia, the Anthropocene advent of fossil fuels, scientific breeding and, most of all, artificial nitrogen fertiliser has vastly increased agriculture’s power. The relevance of wilderness to our world has shrunk in the face of this onslaught. <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/18744401?story_id=18744401" title="The geology of the planet: Welcome to the Anthropocene | The Economist" rel="nofollow">The sheer amount of biomass now walking around the planet in the form of humans and livestock handily outweighs that of all other large animals.</a> The world’s ecosystems are dominated by an increasingly homogenous and limited suite of cosmopolitan crops, livestock and creatures that get on well in environments dominated by humans. Creatures less useful or adaptable get short shrift: the extinction rate is running far higher than during normal geological periods. Almost 90% of the world’s plant activity, by some estimates, is to be found in ecosystems where humans play a significant role. Although farms have changed the world for millennia, the Anthropocene advent of fossil fuels, scientific breeding and, most of all, artificial nitrogen fertiliser has vastly increased agriculture’s power. The relevance of wilderness to our world has shrunk in the face of this onslaught. The sheer amount of biomass now walking around the planet in the form of humans and livestock handily outweighs that of all other large animals. The world’s ecosystems are dominated by an increasingly homogenous and limited suite of cosmopolitan crops, livestock and creatures that get on well in environments dominated by humans. Creatures less useful or adaptable get short shrift: the extinction rate is running far higher than during normal geological periods.

]]> By: Milan http://www.sindark.com/2008/10/16/the-biomass-of-humans/#comment-85393 Milan Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:26:25 +0000 http://www.sindark.com/?p=3678#comment-85393 Those human biomass figures could go up a lot; <a href="http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15108634" rel="nofollow">by 2100, the United States may have one billion inhabitants</a>. Those human biomass figures could go up a lot; by 2100, the United States may have one billion inhabitants.

]]> By: Milan http://www.sindark.com/2008/10/16/the-biomass-of-humans/#comment-53405 Milan Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:21:56 +0000 http://www.sindark.com/?p=3678#comment-53405 Ammonia synthesis is described at some length in: <a href="http://www.sindark.com/2006/08/13/something-new-under-the-sun/" rel="nofollow">Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the 20th Century</a> Given how most fertilizers are produced from fossil fuels, they represent yet another way in which hydrocarbon dependence makes our society unsustainable. Ammonia synthesis is described at some length in: Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the 20th Century

Given how most fertilizers are produced from fossil fuels, they represent yet another way in which hydrocarbon dependence makes our society unsustainable.

]]> By: Bloix http://www.sindark.com/2008/10/16/the-biomass-of-humans/#comment-53403 Bloix Tue, 21 Oct 2008 15:08:01 +0000 http://www.sindark.com/?p=3678#comment-53403 "To what extent does our inflated biomass result from unsustainable energy use?" Our inflated biomass results almost entirely from the synthesization of ammonia, which is the basis for artificial fertilizer. The patent for the process was filed 100 years ago this month, in the most important scientific advance of the 20th century, by the German chemist Fritz Haber. The population increase from 1.6 billion in 1900 to 6.5 billion today is due in the main to the Haber-Bosch process, which broke the Malthusian bounds on food production. Synthetic ammonia is made by combining hydrogen derived from petroleum or natural gas with nitrogen in the atmosphere, and requires large amounts of energy, also usually produced using petroleum or natural gas, so the answer to your question is, "to a very large extent." see, e.g., http://www.ceh.ac.uk/news/news_archive/2008_news_item_35.html http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080929095708.htm http://www.nature.com/ngeo/index.html “To what extent does our inflated biomass result from unsustainable energy use?”

Our inflated biomass results almost entirely from the synthesization of ammonia, which is the basis for artificial fertilizer. The patent for the process was filed 100 years ago this month, in the most important scientific advance of the 20th century, by the German chemist Fritz Haber. The population increase from 1.6 billion in 1900 to 6.5 billion today is due in the main to the Haber-Bosch process, which broke the Malthusian bounds on food production.

Synthetic ammonia is made by combining hydrogen derived from petroleum or natural gas with nitrogen in the atmosphere, and requires large amounts of energy, also usually produced using petroleum or natural gas, so the answer to your question is, “to a very large extent.”

see, e.g.,

http://www.ceh.ac.uk/news/news_archive/2008_news_item_3 5.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/0809290957 08.htm

http://www.nature.com/ngeo/index.html

]]> By: Milan http://www.sindark.com/2008/10/16/the-biomass-of-humans/#comment-53098 Milan Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:01:02 +0000 http://www.sindark.com/?p=3678#comment-53098 Clearly, it relates to population. Even so, I thought it was a different enough presentation to be worth noting. Somehow "as massive as all the fish and whales in the sea" seems more tangible than "6.7 billion." It also gives one a sense of why we are proving so effective at <a href="http://www.sindark.com/2008/10/14/iccaat-derided-tuna-stocks-denuded/" rel="nofollow">stripping the seas of life</a>. Clearly, it relates to population.

Even so, I thought it was a different enough presentation to be worth noting. Somehow “as massive as all the fish and whales in the sea” seems more tangible than “6.7 billion.” It also gives one a sense of why we are proving so effective at stripping the seas of life.

]]> By: Tristan http://www.sindark.com/2008/10/16/the-biomass-of-humans/#comment-53093 Tristan Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:49:57 +0000 http://www.sindark.com/?p=3678#comment-53093 Is this a disguised and PC way of talking about over-population? Is this a disguised and PC way of talking about over-population?

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