TY - JOUR
T1 - The anthropocene
T2 - From global change to planetary stewardship
AU - Steffen, Will
AU - Persson, Åsa
AU - Deutsch, Lisa
AU - Zalasiewicz, Jan
AU - Williams, Mark
AU - Richardson, Katherine
AU - Crumley, Carole
AU - Crutzen, Paul
AU - Folke, Carl
AU - Gordon, Line
AU - Molina, Mario
AU - Ramanathan, Veerabhadran
AU - Rockström, Johan
AU - Scheffer, Marten
AU - Schellnhuber, Hans Joachim
AU - Svedin, Uno
PY - 2011/11
Y1 - 2011/11
N2 - Over the past century, the total material wealth of humanity has been enhanced. However, in the twentyfirst 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 geoengineering 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.
AB - Over the past century, the total material wealth of humanity has been enhanced. However, in the twentyfirst 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 geoengineering 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.
KW - Anthropocence
KW - Earth System
KW - Ecosystem services
KW - Planetary stewardship
KW - Resilience
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80155184875&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s13280-011-0185-x
DO - 10.1007/s13280-011-0185-x
M3 - Article
SN - 0044-7447
VL - 40
SP - 739
EP - 761
JO - Ambio
JF - Ambio
IS - 7
ER -