Though we amount to less than 1% of all life, we are a threat to all the rest
According to the study, published by the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS),
people only make up 0.01 percent of the Earth's biomass—however, their impact
has been massive.
The researchers
estimate that, in terms of biomass, the so-called rise of human civilization
has destroyed 83 percent of wild mammals, 80 percent of marine animals, 50
percent of plants, and 15 percent of fish.
"Over the
relatively short span of human history," the study notes, "major
innovations, such as the domestication of livestock, adoption of an
agricultural lifestyle, and the Industrial Revolution, have increased the human
population dramatically and have had radical ecological effects."
Unsustainable human
practices and dietary choices have led to a scenerio wherein 36 percent of
mammals are human and 60 percent are livestock—meaning only four percent are
wild.
"It is pretty
staggering," Ron Milo, a professor at Israel's Weizmann Institute of
Science who led the study, told the Guardian. "Our
dietary choices have a vast effect on the habitats of animals, plants, and
other organisms."
"When I do a
puzzle with my daughters, there is usually an elephant next to a giraffe next
to a rhino. But if I was trying to give them a more realistic sense of the
world, it would be a cow next to a cow next to a cow and then a chicken,"
he added.
"I would hope
people would take this [work] as part of their worldview of how they
consume," concluded Milo. "I would hope this gives people a
perspective on the very dominant role that humanity now plays on Earth."
The study's findings
provoked both amazement and concern.
"Amazing figures
showing we should humbly look for a more #sustainable human existence on this
planet," remarked one sustainability organization
on Twitter.
Another environmental
advocate tweeted in response: "Does enough
time remain to change human behavior for a better outcome?"
