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Concept
Anthropogenic metabolism
Summary
Anthropogenic metabolism, also referred to as metabolism of the anthroposphere, is a term used in industrial ecology, material flow analysis, and waste management to describe the material and energy turnover of human society. It emerges from the application of systems thinking to the industrial and other man-made activities and it is a central concept of sustainable development. In modern societies, the bulk of anthropogenic (man-made) material flows is related to one of the following activities: sanitation, transportation, habitation, and communication, which were "of little metabolic significance in prehistoric times". Global man-made stocks of steel in buildings, infrastructure, and vehicles, for example, amount to about 25 Gigatonnes (more than three tonnes per person), a figure that is surpassed only by construction materials such as concrete.
Sustainable development is closely linked to the design of a sustainable anthropogenic metabolism, which will entail substantial changes in the energy and material turnover of the different human activities. Anthropogenic metabolism can be seen as synonymous to social or socioeconomic metabolism. It comprises both industrial metabolism and urban metabolism.
In layman's terms, anthropogenic metabolism indicates the human impact on the world by the modern industrialized world. Much of these impacts include waste management, ecological footprints, water footprints, and flow analysis (i.e., the rate at which each human depleted the energy around them). Most anthropogenic metabolism happens in developed countries. According to Rosales, "Economic growth is at present the main cause of increased climate change, and climate change is a main mechanism of biodiversity loss; because of this, economic growth is a major catalyst of biodiversity loss."
A water footprint is the amount of water that each person uses in their daily lives. Most of the world's water is salt water which cannot be used in human food or water supplies.
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