Calculated weight of the tecnósfera of the Earth – Prensa Latina

November 30, 2016, 14:22London, 30 nov (PL) Geologists british led the first estimate of the weight of the physical structure of the tecnósfera of the Earth, that reaches up to 30 billion tons, reported today the University of Leicester.

The tecnósfera is composed by all the structures that humans have built to keep themselves alive on the planet, from houses, factories and farms to computer systems and smart phones, as well as the waste in landfills and dumps.

The professors Jan Zalasiewicz, Mark Williams, and Colin Waters, Department of Geology, University of Leicester, led an international team that calculated a chilling picture about the extent of the human footprint on the planet, equivalent to more than 50 kilograms per each square meter of the earth’s surface.

The tecnósfera is a creation of the american scientist Peter Haff, who is also one of the co-authors of this study, it is a system with its own dynamics and energy flows, and the humans have to help keep it in place in order to survive, said Zalasiewicz.

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