The Anthropocene: conceptual and historical perspectives

The human imprint on the global environment has now become so large and active that it rivals some of the great forces of Nature in its impact on the functioning of the Earth system. Although global-scale human influence on the environment has been recognized since the 1800s, the term Anthropocene,...

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Published in:Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences physical, and engineering sciences, 2011-03, Vol.369 (1938), p.842-867
Main Authors: Steffen, Will, Grinevald, Jacques, Crutzen, Paul, McNeill, John
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropocene
Anthropoceneglobal changeplanetary boundariesIndustrial Revolutiongeo-engineering
Atmospherics
Biosphere
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide emissions
Climate change
Earth
Geo-Engineering
Geoengineering
Geology
Global Change
Humans
Industrial Revolution
Planetary Boundaries
Planetary boundary
Review
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Summary:The human imprint on the global environment has now become so large and active that it rivals some of the great forces of Nature in its impact on the functioning of the Earth system. Although global-scale human influence on the environment has been recognized since the 1800s, the term Anthropocene, introduced about a decade ago, has only recently become widely, but informally, used in the global change research community. However, the term has yet to be accepted formally as a new geological epoch or era in Earth history. In this paper, we put forward the case for formally recognizing the Anthropocene as a new epoch in Earth history, arguing that the advent of the Industrial Revolution around 1800 provides a logical start date for the new epoch. We then explore recent trends in the evolution of the Anthropocene as humanity proceeds into the twenty-first century, focusing on the profound changes to our relationship with the rest of the living world and on early attempts and proposals for managing our relationship with the large geophysical cycles that drive the Earth's climate system.
ISSN:1364-503X
1471-2962
1471-2962
DOI:10.1098/rsta.2010.0327