Welcome to the

Anthropocene
JANE L. TERANES
ESYS103/MAE124
APRIL 3, 2019
From The Anthropocene: A Man Made World,
The Economist, May 26.Oliver Morton (2011)

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The Anthropocene: A Primer
The Anthropocene. We’re already there. This is our
time, our creation, our challenge.
Officially, this epoch does not exist. Yet. It may be
added permanently to the geologic time scale, with
discussions on going. It is the International
Commission on Stratigraphy that determines the
denomination and the calibration of different divisions
and subdivisions of geological time, which date back to
the formation of the Earth, 4.6 billion years ago.
Unofficially, the term is used requently in the scientific
literature and, recently, with the general public.

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What is the Anthropocene?
Technically, the Anthropocene would become the most recent period of the
Quaternary, succeeding to the Holocene. The Quaternary is a period of the
Earth’s history characterized by numerous and cyclical glaciations, starting
2,588,000 years ago (2.588 Ma). The Quaternary is divided into three epochs:
the Pleistocene, the Holocene, and now (perhaps) the Anthropocene.

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What is the Anthropocene?
The Anthropocene would thus be best defined as the new human-dominated period
of the Earth’s history. The Ancient Greek [anthropos] means “human being” while
[kainos] means “new, current.”
The term was proposed in 2000 by Paul J. Crutzen, Nobel Prize winner in 1995 for his
work on atmospheric chemistry and his research on stratospheric ozone depletion
(the so-called “ozone hole”), and by Eugene F. Stoermer in a publication (p. 17) of the
International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme.
But the concept itself, the idea that human activity affects the Earth to the point
where it can cross a new age, is not new and dates back to the late nineteenth
century. Different terms were proposed over the decades, such as Anthropozoic
(Stoppani, 1873), Noosphere (de Chardin, 1922; Vernadsky, 1936), Eremozoic
(Wilson, 1992), and Anthrocene (Revkin, 1992).
It seems that the success of the term chosen by Crutzen and Stoermer is due to the
luck of having been made at the appropriate time, when humankind became more
than ever aware of the extent of its impact on global environment.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGtCkv7_nIs
 Here’s a definition:

"A period marked by a regime change in the activity of industrial societies

which has caused global disruptions in the Earth System on a scale
unprecedented in human history: climate change, biodiversity loss,
pollution of the sea, land and air, resources depredation, land cover
denudation, radical transformation of the earth, among others. These
changes command a major realignment of our consciousness and
worldviews, and call for different ways to inhabit the Earth.“
(Emphasis added; source, http://globaia.org/portfolio/cartography-of-the-
anthropocene/)

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 Anthropocene: The human age
Our Readings:
1) The Anthropocene: Are Humans Now Overwhelming the Great Forces
of Nature? By Will Steffen, Paul J. Crutzen, John R. McNeil
Ambio , Vol. 36, No. 8, December 2007
©Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2007
The article has become a classic and has taken on a large following. The
notion of the Anthropocene has stuck.

2) Momentum is building to establish a new geological epoch that

recognizes humanity's impact on the planet. But there is fierce debate
behind the scenes.
Richard Monastersky
11 March 2015 Nature

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“The Anthropocene: Are Humans Now Overwhelming the
Great Forces of Nature?”
The authors are:
•Will Steffen is trained in chemical engineering. His research interests
including climate change and Earth system science issues, with a focus
on sustainability. He served as the Director of the Fenner School of
Environment at the Australian National University, Canberra for many
years.
•Paul J. Crutzen won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995. He is
Professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and at the Max
Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany.
•John R. McNeil is Professor of History at Georgetown and formerly held
the Cinco Hermanos Chair in International and Environmental Affairs.
Note: None of the authors are geologists. Each author is highly
respected, comprising a formidable interdisciplinary team.

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Clicker questions
THESE ARE THE MAIN POINTS FROM TODAY ’S READING
PLEASE USE FREQUENCY CODE CA
#1 Clicker Question:
What do the authors Steffen, Crutzen and McNeill suggest
as a the single simple indicator to track the progression of
the Anthropocene?

A.Population Growth
B.Land Use
C.Biodiversity Loss
D.Atmospheric CO2 concentrations
E. All of the above

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#2 Clicker Question:
When do the authors Steffen, Crutzen, and McNeill define
the start of Anthropocene?

A. At the start of agriculture approximately

10,000 years ago.
B. At the start of the industrial revolution in
the early 1800s.
C. With the start of written language.
D. With the invention of the automobile in
the early 1900s.
E. None of the above.

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The record of atmospheric CO2
concentrations
Pre-industrial values of atmospheric CO2
concentrations were 270-275ppm.
Atmospheric CO2 concentrations rose to
about 310ppm by 1950.
Since then, concentrations have risen
rapidly, defining the “Age of the Great
Acceleration.”

From Steffen et al. 2007

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Record of CO2 concentrations
in the atmosphere

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#3 Clicker Question:
Is the start of the industrial revolution the only proposed
date for the start of the Anthropocene?
A. Yes.
B. No.
C. I don’t know.

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 Examine indicators of
the Anthropocene

From:
http://www.nature.com/news/anthro
pocene-the-human-age-1.17085
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The article’s first two paragraphs
frame the challenge.
Human-induced change raises disturbing questions about
the future of Earth and the environmental services that
support human civilization.
They ask: Has the Earth left the benign interglacial state of
the Holocene to enter a new era of Earth history, the
Anthropocene?
They assert: “The Earth is rapidly moving into a less
biologically diverse, less forested, much warmer, and
probably wetter and stormier state.”
This “represents a profound shift in the relationship
between humans and the rest of nature.”

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Origins of the Anthropocene:
The Agricultural Revolution began 10,000 to 12,000
years ago. Humans domesticated animals and
plants, cleared forests, and discovered fire. Humans
did not yet possess the technology or organization
to dominate nature above a transitory regional
level.
About 10,000 years ago, written language allowed
the “accumulation of knowledge and social
learning,” as “an impressive catalytic process”.

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 Also see Figure 2 in
the Steffen, Crutzen
and McNeill 2007
paper for more
indicators of human
endeavors that have
impacted the
environment.

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The Industrial Era (ca. 1800-1945)
•The start of the Industrial Revolution
•The widespread use of coal (fossil fuels)
•The expansion of economic society
•Human population expands from about 750 million to
about 2.5 billion.

Note the emphasis on economics and not demography:

Population growth follows economic growth.

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The Anthropocene II: The Age
of Acceleration (1945-ca. 2015)

“This first stage of the Anthropocene ended abruptly

around 1945, when the most rapid and pervasive
shift in the human-environment relationship began.”
This is also the advent of the USA as a world military,
economic, and cultural power.

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An inflection point starts around
mid-20th century.
The Age of Acceleration starts soon after World War
II, in 1950 with the USA as its epicenter.
This historical observation initiates much of what
unfolds in our course.

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Anthropocene III: Stewards of the
Earth (ca. 2015-?)?

“Humankind will remain a major geological force for

many millennia, maybe millions of years, to come. …
Can humanity meet this challenge?”

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Humanity is becoming aware
by these means:
•Research, particularly on “interdisciplinary work on
human-environment systems”
•The Internet as “a global self-organizing
information system”
•The spread of free and open societies
•Democratic political systems and the emergence of
civil society.

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Three pathways for the future
1. Business as usual
2. Mitigation
3. Geo-Engineering

We need to examine them and perhaps go even

further, regarding the challenge as an opportunity.

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The conclusion issues a
warning.
The final paragraph states that the Great
Acceleration is approaching a critical stage.
“Whatever unfolds, the next few decades will surely
be a tipping point in the evolution of the
Anthropocene.”

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