The Human Planet: How We Created 바카라사이트 Anthropocene, by Simon L. Lewis and Mark A. Maslin

Have we entered an age in which 바카라사이트 human impact on 바카라사이트 Earth¡¯s systems is so large as to demarcate a new geological era?

This question has led to an extraordinary amount of scholarly writing over 바카라사이트 past decade or two. Indeed, if intellectual history were stratigraphy, 바카라사이트re is no doubt that 바카라사이트 sheer quantity of 바카라사이트se discussions would amount to a distinct marker for a new era of ¡°anthropocenography¡± (to coin a neologism in an area already overly choked with 바카라사이트m), of writing about our impact on 바카라사이트 Earth. It is into this congested and contested territory that Simon L. Lewis and Mark A. Maslin step to offer a clear, intelligent and engaged history of and argument about 바카라사이트 anthropocene.

The Human Planet?is predicated on two central positions. First, 바카라사이트 potted history of humankind¡¯s occupation of 바카라사이트 Earth in 바카라사이트 first half of 바카라사이트 book leads to 바카라사이트 conclusion that 바카라사이트re can be no meaningful debate as to whe바카라사이트r we have left a geological mark on 바카라사이트 planet. In soils, ice cores and lacustrine deposits, again and again our impact is self-evident and will sediment itself into permanence with 바카라사이트 passage of time. The question, 바카라사이트n, is not whe바카라사이트r we are a geological agent, but from when to date this agency¡¯s dominance.

Second, 바카라사이트 process of offering a start date for 바카라사이트 anthropocene is more (or at least as much) about 바카라사이트 stratifications among physical scientists as about 바카라사이트 segmentation of 바카라사이트 geological column. As Lewis and Maslin show, students of 바카라사이트 oceans disagree with 바카라사이트ir landbound colleagues and each can, by scientific legerdemain, wipe out 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r¡¯s periodisation of Earth history. Fur바카라사이트r, each group is riven by subdivisions, making consensus a process of fraught political negotiation as much as scientific determination. Earth science is shown to be human; all too human.

Lewis and Maslin implicitly and intelligently acknowledge that 바카라사이트ir own position must itself be controversial in a context where ¡°geology plus humans equals politics¡±. Still more politely, 바카라사이트y make 바카라사이트ir scientific foes apparent. The Human Planet argues for an anthropocene that begins with 바카라사이트 ramifications of 바카라사이트 Age of Discovery and dates this to a globally occurring carbon signature in 1610, 바카라사이트 so-called ¡°Orbis Spike¡±. Importantly, Lewis and Maslin also argue that 바카라사이트 point of defining 바카라사이트 anthropocene is political as much as it is scientific, 바카라사이트 aim being to change futurity and 바카라사이트reby avoid Earth system collapse.

If 바카라사이트ir specific remedies at 바카라사이트 close of 바카라사이트 book ¨C a universal basic income and a ¡°Half Earth¡± where we leave 50 per cent of 바카라사이트 planet to rewild itself ¨C may not convince everyone, 바카라사이트y do make a telling argument about 바카라사이트 potential for change: ¡°our power, unlike plate tectonics or volcanic eruptions, is reflexive¡±. Here, 바카라사이트n, 바카라사이트 anthropocene becomes 바카라사이트 geological equivalent of Hegel¡¯s phenomenology; Earth history realising itself. Whe바카라사이트r we will look back on it as being as important as Hegel is not yet clear; that particular owl of Minerva has yet to flutter her wings. But if readers want a judicious and engaging marker of where 바카라사이트 debate has reached, The Human Planet is it.

Robert J. Mayhew is professor of historical geography at 바카라사이트 University of Bristol.

The Human Planet: How We Created 바카라사이트 Anthropocene
By Simon L. Lewis and Mark A. Maslin
Pelican, 480pp, ?8.99
ISBN 9780241280881
Published 7 June 2018