Our activities now affect the entire planet. But there’s a vital debate over when we started disrupting these systems. Was it 1950 – or hundreds and thousands of years earlier?
Alejandro Cearreta, Universidad del País Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
Crawford Lake in Ontario contains the record that best identifies the beginning of the Anthropocene, the geologic epoch characterized by the global impact of human activity.
Environmental debates often centre proposals for curtailing emissions, without addressing how we got into this mess and how we might get out. A radical new book ponders the alternatives.
From installations of ice to projected art generated from air quality readings, artists and designers offer powerful experiences where people become witnesses to what’s happening and what’s possible.
A study published in the journal Nature reveals that global mass of goods produced by humankind now exceeds that of all life on earth. This is a stark warning on our growing domination of the planet.
If all of humanity was wiped out tomorrow, it’s estimated that the natural world would take at least five million years to recover from the damage humans have done to the world.
Almost a century ago, New Zealand and Australia were at the forefront of an environmental crisis that forewarned of humanity’s global impact – erosion. It left its mark on culture.
‘Antarctic cities’ residents care deeply about the continent, with environmental concerns outweighing economic priorities. Asked about its future, they feel a mix of hope, pessimism and sadness.
Allan and Helaine Shiff Curator of Climate Change, Royal Ontario Museum and Assistant Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto