The Anthropocene is not about climate change
The Observatory
20 Feb
Dr David Whitehouse
Books have been written about it that have won prizes. Our most prodigious scientific societies and journals tell us it’s already here. Journals are devoted to its signs and impacts. Leading scientists tell us with certainty it’s a fact. In popular culture it’s a given always associated with catastrophic climate change. Even poets have been marshalled to confront it and save the planet.
What is it? The Anthropocene of course – the first geological epoch in the history of planet’s 4.5 billion years that is influenced, even dominated, by humans. Even the Astronomer Royal proclaims, “We have entered the Anthropocene”. The US National Academy of Science says we have left stable Holocene conditions and are moving deeper into the Anthropocene, and a new framework is needed to restore and strengthen planetary resilience and justice.
But it’s not as simple as that. It exists, yet it doesn’t, and that is the problem. Officially it hasn’t been decided yet, but it might soon be.
https://www.netzerowatch.com/all-news/the-anthropocene-is-not-just-about-climate-change
