Skip to main content

Earth’s ‘technosphere’ is massive, and could mean problems for the planet

technosphere earth and cling film
University of Leicester
An artificial system is growing on Earth’s surface and it’s entirely our creation. Dubbed the technosphere, the system is made up of all man-made structures — from factories, streets, and landfills to computers, cars, and clothes.

The concept of the technosphere was first coined by Duke University geologist Peter Haff a few years ago. Now, Haff and a team of international scientists led by researchers from the University of Leicester have made the first measurement of the man-made system, and it’s absolutely huge.

Recommended Videos

Measuring a system as massive and expansive as the technosphere isn’t easy. “We had to make generalized estimates to arrive at a global figure,” lead researcher and University of Leicester professor Jan Zalasiewicz told Digital Trends. Zalasiewicz and his team used published estimates on areas like cropland and pastureland, and made estimates of the thickness of the surface and modified ground underneath. “For instance,” he said, “for cities, geologists have mapped the ‘artificial ground’ that lies beneath, and these kinds of data have been used as a basis for a global estimate.”

The total measurement rounded out to some 30 trillion tons, or roughly 37 pounds per every square foot of Earth’s surface.

But the technosphere isn’t just dead weight atop the planet — it’s a functioning system with it’s own internal dynamics, which humans drive but don’t yet control.

“The technosphere interconnects with, and incorporates material from, all of the other ‘spheres’ of the Earth,” Zalasiewicz said. “A striking characteristic currently, in comparison with the biosphere, is its ability to recycle materials.” While the biosphere has refined its recycling over the course of billions of years, the technosphere hasn’t yet honed the practice.

“The biosphere … is almost perfect at recycling,” Zalasiewicz said, “while the technosphere is creating very large waste masses, and this … is currently significantly degrading the biosphere.”

In other words, the technosphere is contributing to pollution.

And it’s growing, according to the researchers who published a paper detailing their work in the journal The Anthroprocene Review.

“It’s evolution rate is far faster than that of the biosphere,” Zalasiewicz said. “If it can resolve problems such as the poor recycling rate, it may overcome its ‘growing pains’ to become a stable component within the Earth System as a whole… If not, then these problems may slow or stop its growth.”

Dyllan Furness
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Dyllan Furness is a freelance writer from Florida. He covers strange science and emerging tech for Digital Trends, focusing…
New Earth-sized planet discovered 300 light-years away could support life
new habitable earth size planet located 300 years away kepler 1649c exoplanet

A new, Earth-size exoplanet has been discovered in old data from NASA's Kepler space telescope -- and scientists say this world has the potential to support life. 

The rocky exoplanet, known as Kepler-1649c, is only 1.06 times larger than Earth and is located about 300 light-years away, according to a new study released Wednesday in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Read more
‘A staggering problem’: Working from home could lead to massive data leaks
man working from home

The corporate security situation right now is like trying to quickly assemble a shelter during a rainstorm, experts say: Even if you get something set up, you're still likely to have some water leaking through.
Everyone working from home, plus a reported increase in attempted cyberattacks means security systems straining under these unique conditions are especially vulnerable to massive hacks and data breaches -- which could be underway right now and may not be reported about for another six months.
“I’m terrified about it” said Ben Goodman, senior vice president of global business and corporate development at ForgeRock. “A lot of users are being thrust into a work from home environment, and they’re not at all used to this.”

It takes a lot to make sure users are properly implementing security best practices, he told Digital Trends -- practices that most companies didn't train for before employees were forced to work remotely.
“I think we’re going to have an unprecedented number of breaches being announced following the pandemic,” said Kayne McGladrey, member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
“The amount of risk is at an all-time high,” agreed Chris Hertz, chief revenue officer for the cybersecurity company DivvyCloud. “If I were a cybersecurity professional, I would not be sleeping right now. It’s a staggering problem.”
An annual survey from DivvyCloud reported that 49% of respondents who use the public cloud in their jobs said “their developers and engineers at times ignore or circumvent cloud security and compliance policies.”
In addition, cyberattacks are on the rise, a trend that was already happening before the pandemic, and now has dramatically increased, said Hertz. 2018 and 2019 saw a record number of ransomware attacks that totaled $5 trillion in damages.
“Right now is one of the most critical periods for IT security professionals that we’ve had in last decades,” Hertz told Digital Trends. “As one of my colleagues says, we’ve planned for hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, but not for a pandemic that would send literally everyone home for six to 12 months. That was never the framework we’re thinking of.”

Read more
Could cellular seafood take pressure off Earth’s overfished oceans?
Cellular Seafood BlueNalu

Take the “sea” out of seafood and what have you got left? Well, “food,” obviously. But also quite possibly the makings of a multibillion-dollar industry. At least, that’s the hope of a group of intrepid startups offering a fishier remix of the high-tech meat alternatives made famous by companies like Memphis Meats. These startups are doing the same; only instead of trying to create meat proteins in a lab, they’re attempting to grow seafood from cells in a laboratory, rather than harvesting it from the oceans.

This isn't just about tech for tech's sake. With massive problems with overfishing worldwide and growing demand for shrinking supplies of seafood, the way fish currently makes its way to our plates isn't viable long-term. Between 1961 and 2016, the average annual increase in global food fish consumption outpaced population growth. It also exceeded meat from all terrestrial animals combined. Those are figures that not sustainable. Not for us, the fish, or the environment as a whole.

Read more