Quiz 4 - "Is it Time to Embrace the Anthropocene?"
3) Ganesh Chakravarthi. “Is it Time to Embrace the Anthropocene? The Anthropocene requires that humanity take responsibility for preserving the earth and its species.” The Diplomat. February 11, 2020. https://thediplomat.com/2020/02/is-it-time-to-embrace-the-anthropocene/
Ganesh Chakravarthi's article strives to defend the need for us to understand what we are doing to our planet and the need to change our mindsets and embrace the new epoch, the Anthropocene. Even though geologists are trying to educate the world about it, not sufficient movement and change are happening. He emphasizes the fact that the world continues to burn in the Australian desert and in the Amazon, floods, heat waves, and climate-induced catastrophes have killed over 2,000 people in India. The Nobel prize-winner scientist for proposing the term Anthropocene was Paul Crutzen in 2000. His message to the world was “This name change stresses the enormity of humanity’s responsibility as stewards of the Earth.” The Oxford Languages definition for Anthropocene is “the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment.” In other words, we are the ones responsible for our daily decisions which are directly affecting our planet. The Anthropocene idea is a much needed paradigm shift in our mindsets, and “the necessary shift in our approach to deal with the issues on our planet.” He also mentions the two criticisms concerning the proposed epoch: 1) Geological shifts take several centuries, and 2) the need to notice more common signals of shifting mechanisms are needed across the world. Considering these two factors, do we still need to wait a little longer for the new epoch to be accepted? Are the existent signs sufficient for the new epoch?
Learning World History this Summer made me appreciate and easily understand the importance of this article’s message. I felt the need to learn even more about it as the Anthropocene topic is directly related to what we have studied in this class, how our Human Sapiens Sapiens species have been living on our planet, the decisions and changes they have been part of and what they will need to understand going forward. As Strayer mentioned in his textbook, three factors need to be considered as the foundations for this immense environmental transformation in our planet. One of them is the vast enlargement of the world human population which quadrupled in only one century, the ability of humankind to tap the energy potential of fossil fuels from “coal in the nineteenth century and oil in the twentieth” and finally the new sources of energy. (2016, p. 1053) These factors have affected our planet in many ways such as increasing drastically the plastic production and waste, polluted air and water, and extinct species. If we want to save our species, we need to take care of our planet so it is habitable to us and our future generations.
Ganesh Chakravarthi's article strives to defend the need for us to understand what we are doing to our planet and the need to change our mindsets and embrace the new epoch, the Anthropocene. Even though geologists are trying to educate the world about it, not sufficient movement and change are happening. He emphasizes the fact that the world continues to burn in the Australian desert and in the Amazon, floods, heat waves, and climate-induced catastrophes have killed over 2,000 people in India. The Nobel prize-winner scientist for proposing the term Anthropocene was Paul Crutzen in 2000. His message to the world was “This name change stresses the enormity of humanity’s responsibility as stewards of the Earth.” The Oxford Languages definition for Anthropocene is “the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment.” In other words, we are the ones responsible for our daily decisions which are directly affecting our planet. The Anthropocene idea is a much needed paradigm shift in our mindsets, and “the necessary shift in our approach to deal with the issues on our planet.” He also mentions the two criticisms concerning the proposed epoch: 1) Geological shifts take several centuries, and 2) the need to notice more common signals of shifting mechanisms are needed across the world. Considering these two factors, do we still need to wait a little longer for the new epoch to be accepted? Are the existent signs sufficient for the new epoch?
Learning World History this Summer made me appreciate and easily understand the importance of this article’s message. I felt the need to learn even more about it as the Anthropocene topic is directly related to what we have studied in this class, how our Human Sapiens Sapiens species have been living on our planet, the decisions and changes they have been part of and what they will need to understand going forward. As Strayer mentioned in his textbook, three factors need to be considered as the foundations for this immense environmental transformation in our planet. One of them is the vast enlargement of the world human population which quadrupled in only one century, the ability of humankind to tap the energy potential of fossil fuels from “coal in the nineteenth century and oil in the twentieth” and finally the new sources of energy. (2016, p. 1053) These factors have affected our planet in many ways such as increasing drastically the plastic production and waste, polluted air and water, and extinct species. If we want to save our species, we need to take care of our planet so it is habitable to us and our future generations.
References:
Oxford Languages. https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/anthropocene
Strayer, R. (2016). Ways of the World: A Brief Global History. Bedford/St. Martin
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