Reflections on the Anthropocene

In spite of the poor operational definition for geologists, the Anthropocene has been permanently captured by non-geologists to as an umbrella concept used to explore how to live and think in a planet of our our creation.

Depending on the scale and process, humans have become the most dominant and influential species on Earth, such that we are engineering the future of the planet — this is the Anthropocene.

As I was taught by my parents, thinking carefully and planning for the future is one component of a life well lived. Thus, I find the issues of the Anthropocene to be of central importance to my future, the future of my children and grandchildren and of all children for that matter.

Depending on the discipline, our well-being depends on how we interact with the critical zone (geology), biosphere (biology/ecology), and our social relations with others (everything else). Of these zone, spheres, relations, we have a good idea of how we should protect our biosphere and critical zone. But for me, the really good question is how to do we develop social relations to protect the biosphere, maintain the resources we obtain from the critical zone without creating hazards and a socially just and equitable world.

Unfortunately, no universally acceptable way to meet these goals exists — in part because we define equality (and equity), justice, protection, resources and hazards in divergent ways. But I wonder if we might learn to embrace some commonly held frameworks as we enter the third decade of the 21st Century?