Since the World War II, many economies have transitioned from an agrarian, biomass-based to an industrial, minerals-based metabolic regime. Since 1950, world population grew by factor 2.7 and global material consumption by factor 3.7–71 Gigaton
Anke Schaffartzik,Andreas Mayer,Simone Gingrich,et al. The global metabolic transition: Regional patterns and trends of global material flows, 1950–2010[J]. Global Environmental Change-Human and Policy Dimensions,2014-01-01,Volume 26(May 2014):Pages 87-97.