Earth System Dynamics
Earth System Dynamics
ESD
Articles | Volume 16, issue 4
Articles | Volume 16, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-979-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-979-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 16, issue 4
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
11 Jul 2025
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 11 Jul 2025

Delineating the technosphere: definition, categorization, and characteristics

Eric D. Galbraith, Abdullah Al Faisal, Tanya Matitia, William Fajzel, Ian Hatton, Helmut Haberl, Fridolin Krausmann, and Dominik Wiedenhofer

Related authors

BOATSv2: new ecological and economic features improve simulations of high seas catch and effort
Jerome Guiet, Daniele Bianchi, Kim J. N. Scherrer, Ryan F. Heneghan, and Eric D. Galbraith
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 8421–8454, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8421-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8421-2024, 2024
Short summary
Global nutrient cycling by commercially targeted marine fish
Priscilla Le Mézo, Jérôme Guiet, Kim Scherrer, Daniele Bianchi, and Eric Galbraith
Biogeosciences, 19, 2537–2555, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2537-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-2537-2022, 2022
Short summary
Earth system economics: a biophysical approach to the human component of the Earth system
Eric D. Galbraith
Earth Syst. Dynam., 12, 671–687, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-671-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-671-2021, 2021
Short summary
Carbon burial in deep-sea sediment and implications for oceanic inventories of carbon and alkalinity over the last glacial cycle
Olivier Cartapanis, Eric D. Galbraith, Daniele Bianchi, and Samuel L. Jaccard
Clim. Past, 14, 1819–1850, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1819-2018,https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-14-1819-2018, 2018
Short summary
A protocol for the intercomparison of marine fishery and ecosystem models: Fish-MIP v1.0
Derek P. Tittensor, Tyler D. Eddy, Heike K. Lotze, Eric D. Galbraith, William Cheung, Manuel Barange, Julia L. Blanchard, Laurent Bopp, Andrea Bryndum-Buchholz, Matthias Büchner, Catherine Bulman, David A. Carozza, Villy Christensen, Marta Coll, John P. Dunne, Jose A. Fernandes, Elizabeth A. Fulton, Alistair J. Hobday, Veronika Huber, Simon Jennings, Miranda Jones, Patrick Lehodey, Jason S. Link, Steve Mackinson, Olivier Maury, Susa Niiranen, Ricardo Oliveros-Ramos, Tilla Roy, Jacob Schewe, Yunne-Jai Shin, Tiago Silva, Charles A. Stock, Jeroen Steenbeek, Philip J. Underwood, Jan Volkholz, James R. Watson, and Nicola D. Walker
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 1421–1442, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-1421-2018,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-1421-2018, 2018
Short summary
More articles (4)

Related subject area

Topics: Antroposphere | Interactions: Human/Earth system interactions | Methods: Other methods
Early opportunity signals of a tipping point in the UK's second-hand electric vehicle market
Chris A. Boulton, Joshua E. Buxton, and Timothy M. Lenton
Earth Syst. Dynam., 16, 411–421, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-411-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-16-411-2025, 2025
Short summary
The State of Global Catastrophic Risk Research: A Bibliometric Review
Florian Ulrich Jehn, John-Oliver Engler, Constantin W. Arnscheidt, Magdalena Wache, Ekaterina Ilin, Laura Cook, Lalitha S. Sundaram, Frederic Hanusch, and Luke Kemp
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.31223/X52X4V,https://doi.org/10.31223/X52X4V, 2024
Short summary
Tipping dynamics in packaging systems: How a bottle reuse system was established and then undone
Mila Kim-Chau Fiona Ong, Fenna Blomsma, and Timothy Michael Lenton
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2361,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2361, 2023
Short summary
Advancing the estimation of future climate impacts within the United States
Corinne Hartin, Erin E. McDuffie, Karen Noiva, Marcus Sarofim, Bryan Parthum, Jeremy Martinich, Sarah Barr, Jim Neumann, Jacqueline Willwerth, and Allen Fawcett
Earth Syst. Dynam., 14, 1015–1037, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-1015-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-1015-2023, 2023
Short summary

Cited articles

Alexander, P., Brown, C., Arneth, A., Finnigan, J., Moran, D., and Rounsevell, M. D.: Losses, Inefficiencies and Waste in the Global Food System, Agr. Syst., 153, 190–200, 2017. a
Bar-On, Y. M., Phillips, R., and Milo, R.: The Biomass Distribution on Earth, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 115, 6506–6511, 2018. a
Benton, M. J.: Stems, Nodes, Crown Clades, and Rank-Free Lists: Is Linnaeus Dead?, Biol. Rev., 75, 633–648, 2000. a
Boyd, R.: A Different Kind of Animal: How Culture Transformed Our Species, Princeton University Press, ISBN 1-4008-8852-2, 2018. a
Brenner, N.: Implosions/Explosions: Towards a Study of Planetary Urbanism, Jovis, Berlin, ISBN 3868593179, 2014. a
More articles (86)
Download
Chief editor
This paper presents an important perspective on the technosphere as an intertwined component of the human-Earth system in the Anthropocene.
Read more
Short summary
The technosphere – including buildings, infrastructure, and all other non-living human creations – is a major part of our planet, but it is not often considered as an integrated part of Earth system processes. Here we propose a refined definition of the technosphere, intended to help with integration. We also characterize the functional end uses, map the global distribution, and discuss the catalytic properties that underlie the exponential growth of the trillion tonne technosphere.
Read more
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint