The Anthropocene: From Global Change to Planetary Stewardship
Top Cited Papers
- 12 October 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in AMBIO
- Vol. 40 (7), 739-761
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-011-0185-x
Abstract
Over the past century, the total material wealth of humanity has been enhanced. However, in the twenty-first century, we face scarcity in critical resources, the degradation of ecosystem services, and the erosion of the planet’s capability to absorb our wastes. Equity issues remain stubbornly difficult to solve. This situation is novel in its speed, its global scale and its threat to the resilience of the Earth System. The advent of the Anthropence, the time interval in which human activities now rival global geophysical processes, suggests that we need to fundamentally alter our relationship with the planet we inhabit. Many approaches could be adopted, ranging from geo-engineering solutions that purposefully manipulate parts of the Earth System to becoming active stewards of our own life support system. The Anthropocene is a reminder that the Holocene, during which complex human societies have developed, has been a stable, accommodating environment and is the only state of the Earth System that we know for sure can support contemporary society. The need to achieve effective planetary stewardship is urgent. As we go further into the Anthropocene, we risk driving the Earth System onto a trajectory toward more hostile states from which we cannot easily return.Keywords
This publication has 54 references indexed in Scilit:
- Challenging the planetary boundaries II: Assessing the sustainable global population and phosphate supply, using a systems dynamics assessment modelApplied Geochemistry, 2011
- Has the Earth’s sixth mass extinction already arrived?Nature, 2011
- Global Biodiversity: Indicators of Recent DeclinesScience, 2010
- The Copenhagen Accord for limiting global warming: Criteria, constraints, and available avenuesProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2010
- The story of phosphorus: Global food security and food for thoughtGlobal Environmental Change, 2009
- On avoiding dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system: Formidable challenges aheadProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008
- Tipping elements in the Earth's climate systemProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008
- Global and regional drivers of accelerating CO 2 emissionsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2007
- Ecological goods and services of coral reef ecosystemsEcological Economics, 1999
- Implicit and explicit ethical norms in the environmental policy arenaEcological Economics, 1998