We Outpace All Animals Combined, Disrupting Earth’s Balance

Man has never moved so much. Walking, driving, flying or sailing are part of a collective momentum that has accelerated over the past two centuries. This continuous flow, the driving force of the modern world, however, has an unexpected downside. It now exceeds, in mass and distance, the movements of all wild animals. A silent shift which illustrates to what extent humanity has transformed the planet, even in its most daily movement.

When humanity started

In the middle of the 19th century, the planet underwent unprecedented change. The invention of machines, the densification of cities and population growth have increased travel. The study carried out by the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, led by Yuval Rosenberg and published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, shows that this trend has grown to the point of making humans the main mobile force on the globe.

Every day, each person travels on average nearly thirty kilometers, whether on foot, by car, by train or by plane. The automobile accounts for around 65% of this global mobility, followed by plane, rail and active travel such as walking and cycling. In two centuries, human biomass increased by 700%, while that of wild mammals fell by around 70%. The proliferation of roads and the widespread use of engines have literally redesigned the flow of life on Earth.

This dynamic reflects the entry into what scientists call the Anthropocene, an era where human activities dominate natural cycles. The simple act of moving, once innocuous, has become one of the most tangible markers of this domination.

Biomass in motion upsets the balance of life

The concept of moving biomass, defined by the Weizmann Institute team, measures the total weight of a group of living beings multiplied by the distance traveled each year. This calculation makes it possible to compare human and animal mobility on the same scale. The results are striking. The human mass in motion is forty times greater than that of all terrestrial species combined.

Even considering only walking, humans exceed the total mobility of wild mammals, birds and arthropods by a factor of six. This disproportion can be explained by the human population (nearly eight billion people) but also by the intensive use of motorized vehicles. On this scale, the most spectacular animal migrations, such as those of wildebeest or whales, seem insignificant compared to the constant flow of human transport.

This domination has profound ecological consequences. Animals, as they move, disperse seeds, nutrients and genes essential to the stability of ecosystems. When their movements become rarer, soils become poorer, rivers fragment and food chains become unbalanced. The decline of large marine migrants, victims of overfishing and industrial hunting, illustrates this shift. The biological mobility of the oceans has fallen by 60% since 1850, according to data collected by Earth.com.

Meanwhile, the energy expended by human mobility has soared. The heavy and energy-intensive machines require billions of tons of fuel each year.

Repairing the link between mobility and nature

Giving life back the ability to move freely is becoming a major ecological challenge. Protecting and reconnecting habitats promotes the return of these natural flows. Biological corridors, cross-border reserves and environmental restoration policies aim precisely to restore this broken continuity.

But the real lever remains on the side of humanity. If walking already exceeds all terrestrial animal movement, each marginal reduction in motorized travel can reverse part of the imbalance. Public transport, soft mobility or low-energy innovations can transform the way in which our species leaves its kinetic mark on the planet.

The Weizmann Institute study reminds us that in two centuries, man has not only modified the composition of the biosphere, but also its intimate dynamics. The movement, once a sign of vitality, has become an ecological footprint in its own right. It remains to be seen whether the next step in progress will consist of learning, finally, to move differently.