Image: Jason de Caires TaylorCultureand the AnthropoceneOWEN GAFFNEY Director of communications, International Geosphere-Biosphere ProgrammeBotswana, November 2013

Image: Jason de Caires TaylorWhat is the Anthropocene? Why is it important? Oxford dictionary definition relating to or denoting the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been been the dominant influence on climate and the environment.Image: Felix Pharand Deschenes Ice Age endsPopulation (billion)7 6 54Holocene3 21 200,00070,000 40,000 50,00012,000 9000 6000 11,000200Time (years before present) PopulationUS Bureau of the Census (2000) International database IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Total real GDPNordhaus (1997) The economics of new goods. University of Chicago Press IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Foreign direct investmentWorld Bank (2002) data and statistics IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Damming of riversWorld Commission on Dams (2000) IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Water useShiklomanov (1990) Global Water Resources IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Fertiliser consumptionInternational Fertilizer Industry Association (2002) IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Urban populationThe State of the Worlds Cities (2001) IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Paper consumptionPulp and paper international (1993) IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Motor vehiclesGlobal environmental outlook (2000) IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 TelephonesCanning (2001) A database of world infrastructure stocks, 1950-95 World Bank IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 International tourismWorld Tourism Organization (2001) Tourism industry trends IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Fisheries exploitationPercentage of global fisheries either fully exploited, overfished or collapsed. Source: FAOSTAT (2002) Statistical databases IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Shrimp farm productionIAnnual shrimp production as a proxy for coastal zone alteration. Sources: WRI (2003) A guide to world resources, 2002-2004 IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Domesticated landAmount of land converted to pasture and cropland. Source: Klein Goldewijk and Battjes (1997) National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). Bilthoven, Netherlands IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Atmospheric CO2 concentrationEtheridge et al. Geophys Res 101: 4115-4128 IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Atmospheric N2O concentrationMachida et al Geophys Res Lett 22:2921-2925 IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Atmospheric CH4 concentrationBlunier et al J Geophy Res 20: 2219-2222 IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Northern hemisphere average surface temperatureMann et al Geophys Res Lett 26(6): 759-762 IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Ozone depletionpercentage total column ozone loss over Antarctica, using the average annual total column ozone, 330, as a base. Image: J.D. Shanklin, British Antarctic Survey IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Tropical rainforest and woodland lossLoss of tropical rainforest and woodland, as estimated for tropical Africa, Latin America and South and Southeast Asia. Sources: Richards (1990) In: The Earth as transformed by human action, Cambridge University Press IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Natural climatic disastersDecadal frequency of great floods (one-in-100-year events) after 1860 for basins larger than 200 000 km2 with observations that span at least 30 years. Source: Milly et al. (2002) Nature 415:514-517 IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Coastal zone nitrogen fluxModel-calculated partitioning of the human-induced nitrogen perturbation fluxes in the global coastal margin for the period since 1850. Source: Mackenzie et al. (2002) Chem. Geology 190:13-32 IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Biodiversity lossMathematically calculated rate of extinction. Source: Wilson (1992) The diversity of life, the Penguin Press. IGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 Great accelerationIGBP synthesis: Global Change and the Earth System, Steffen et al 2004 WaterCredit: Adam NiemanAtmosphere Credit: IGBP/Globaia Owen Gaffney, Felix Pharand Deschenes Image: Radhika Gupta Image: Radhika Gupta Image: Radhika Gupta Image: Radhika Gupta Image: Radhika GuptaCredit: Radhika Gupta Image: Radhika GuptaCredit: Radhika Gupta 1992: New York Times journalist Andrew RevkinWe are entering an age that might someday be referred to as, say, the Anthrocene [sic]. After all, it is a geological age of our own making. Global Warming: Understanding the forecast 1989: U.S writer and activist Bill McKibben publishes the End of Nature 1980s: U.S. biologist Eugene Stoermers (1934-2012) lectures mention the Anthropocene NASA Earth rise Vladimir Verdansky (1863-1945) GeosphereBiosphere NosphereLife is a geological force Just as the emergence of life fundamentally transformed the geosphere, the emergence of human cognition fundamentally transforms the biosphere.Image: Memorial Office Museum of Academician VI Verdansky Moscow.Vernadsky and Teilhard de Chardin used the term nosphere the world of thought to mark the growing role of human brain-power in shaping its own future and environment. George Perkins Marsh (1801-1882) Man and Nature (1864) The Earth as Modified by Human Action: Man and Nature. (1874)George P. Marsh, photographed by Mathew B. Brady between 1855 and 1865. Brady-Handy Collection (Library of Congress). [call number: BH8201-4981; reproduction number: LC-BH82014981 DLC (b&w film copy neg.) Antonio Stoppani (1824-1891) Corso di geologia (1873) Anthropozoic era Defined by a new telluric force, which in power and universality may be compared to the greater forces of earth.Image: Paleontologica Lombarda Who decides? But the rest of the world is not waiting Society in the Anthropocene conference, June 2013, Bristol. Image: Philippa Bayley Andrew Barry, University of Oxford The idea of the Anthropocene represents a remarkable intervention by the geosciences into the field of politics...an attempt by the geosciences to move aboveground.2012 Owen Gaffney The concept of theANTHROPOCENE heralds a profound shift in PERCEPTION of our place in the WORLD. Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom (1933-2012) Planet Under PressurePhoto credit: Chris Meyer Image: Jason de Caires Taylor Image: Jason de Caires Taylor Image: David Thomas Smith Could the Anthropocene mark a cultural paradigm shift? Thank you! OWEN GAFFNEY Director of communications International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme Botswana November 2013Owen.gaffney@igbp.kva.se Twitter: @owengaffney @igbpcomms www.igbp.net