Humans account for 0.01% of life and ... erase other lives

The results of a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNSA) on May 21 show the terrible impact of humankind on the entire planet.

The study conducted the first global census of millions of lives on the planet. Accordingly, if we weigh the Earth (biomass), more than seven billion people are still nothing compared to trees, worms and bacteria.

Farm cattle in Brazil.60% of mammals on Earth are pets - (Photo: Daniel Beltra / Greenpeace).

While humankind only accounts for 0.01% of life biomass on Earth, scientists claim we have wiped out nearly 85% of wild mammals and half of the greenery.

Occupying the majority of the planet's weight as trees (more than 80%), bacteria, though small, also account for 13% of biomass. Mushrooms, yeasts and molds account for about 2%.

"These evaluations may not be entirely accurate, the numbers may fluctuate more or less but at least give us an estimate by number" - biologist Ron Milo at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel). The main author of the study said.

Human biomass accounts for 0.01% of life on Earth - (Graphic: THE GUARDIAN).

Now, the amount of domesticated cattle has been 14 times higher than that of wild animals while the chickens have 3 times the volume of wild birds.

In the future, instead of teaching children about elephants and lions, we will honestly teach them animals on Earth with only dairy cows, dairy cows and industrial chickens.

The destruction of the wild environment for agriculture, exploitation and development has prompted scientists to wonder "is there a 6th genocide?" and "are half the animals on the planet gone in the last 50 years?".

"Our impact on the natural world is still very large," said the team leader.

"The external diets greatly affect the habitat of animals, plants and other organisms. I hope people will review how they consume as a responsibility to the world. I will not return. As a vegetarian, but each of my options returns to the environment, should I choose beef, poultry or tofu instead? ".

Trees occupy more than 80% of Earth's biomass.Mushrooms, yeasts and molds account for about 2% - (Photo: APP).

The team calculated biomass based on data from thousands of studies with modern techniques such as scanning with satellite sensors or genome sequencing in microcosmic worlds.

They split the water from the calculation equation to measure dry carbon (biomass) , combined with climate, geography, environmental problems, to draw conclusions about the life structure on the planet. 2/3 of human body is water, only about 1/6 of human mass is dry carbon.

Status of animals on Earth:

• More than 25,000 /91,523 species updated to the 2017 Red Book are considered "threatened".
• About 41% of amphibians and more than 1/4 mammals are threatened with extinction.
• 1,204 mammals, 1,469 bird species, 1,215 reptile species, 2,100 amphibian species and 2,386 species of fish are considered threatened.
• 3,706 vertebrate species (such as fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles) fell nearly 60% from 1970 to 2012.
• More than 25,000 / 91,523 species updated to the 2017 Red Book are considered "threatened".