In 1900, wild land mammals accounted for the equivalent of about 10 megatons of carbon biomass. Humans already accounted for about 13 megatons, while domesticated mammals—our cows, horses, sheep, and goats—accounted for an astonishing 35 megatons. In the next century, these ratios would get even more warped. By 2000, the total biomass of wild land mammals had fallen to about 5 megatons, while that of humans had increased fast (not surprising, given what we know of population growth) to about 55 megatons and that of domesticated mammals to an astonishing 129 megatons. This is a powerful
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