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Each of the sections of this web page links to a resource that will help to remind you of this module of our Science, Philosophy and Spirituality course. Just click on the section, and you will be linked to the resource.
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Enjoy!
.PDF of the slides shown in the session.
The Module dealt with the human species has become so powerful that it is now shaping the world itself, and as a consequence, is experiencing “grand challenges” to its continued well-being that it may not be able to resolve.
Article
Link to my article, “The Human Impact”, which describes why an interdisciplinary research group is proposing to name our current geological period the “Anthropocene”. That article looks at why that is, the challenges it creates for humanity and some of the questions it raises about the historical events and ideas that have brought us to this point.
Books referenced in Module: “The Anhropocene”
An accurate overview of the science behind the Anthropocene, and the rival proposals as to when to mark its beginning. The author discusses how the concept is reshaping the sciences, stimulating the humanities, and foregrounding the politics of life on a planet transformed by we humans.
The concept of the Earth’s atmosphere, biosphere, oceans, soil and rocks operating as an intricately interacting system has rapidly gained ground in science. This introduction to the new concept of Earth System Science draws on elements of geology, biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics to show how we humans are now reshaping a world that evolved to be fit for human habitation.
This very readable book was the first one that introduced me to the concept of “the Anthropocene”. The author traces the impact that we humans have had on our environment since we first began to dominate the Earth, and shows what the new epoch means for us all
This comprehensive book by authors who have worked intimately with the science of the Anthropocene, adopts and advocates a multi-disciplinary approach that embraces geology, but also political and ethical issues of justice and equity, economics and culture. It also examined human history, both in the distant past and more recently.
Although this book was first published in 1980, it’s message is just as important today as it was back then. We ignore at our peril the reality of what farmers have known for centuries — that there are limits to the food that can be produced from any given land area. It sounds a warning note about the basics of sustainability.
The author, a prominent biologist, shows how ecologists have painstakingly learned the rules that regulate ecological systems. They mirror the rules regulating cell biology and have allowed so many miracle drugs to be developed during the past 50 years. But whereas we understand and exploit these rules where human health is concerned, we build, mine or transform whatever patches of earth we choose, with scant regard to the rules of ecology.
Mike Berners-Lee, brother of the World Wide Web inventor, provides a perspective on the numbers behind the grand challenges of feeding the world, climate change, biodiversity, antibiotics, plastics and pandemics. He suggests what is necessary for us to navigate a way out of our present predicament.
The author, a Professor of Geophysical and Climate Hazards, explains with frightening clarity the science behind the climate emergency and paints a picture of the kind of world our grandchildren will grow up in.
The period since World War II ended is becoming known as “the Great Acceleration”, due to the accelerating pace of energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and population growth. During this time three-quarters of the carbon that human beings have contributed to the atmosphere has accumulated, and the number of people on Earth has nearly tripled. This book explains the causes and consequences of the Anthropocene epoch.
Link to Course Home Page
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