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Global change

Welcome to the Anthropocene

Introducing the human impact on global environmental change

Scientific concepts like the Anthropocene, planetary boundaries and planetary stewardship have heralded a profound shift in perception of our place in the world: a growing evidence base of scientific observations show we have become the prime driver of global environmental change. These new concepts are powerful communication tools as we move towards global sustainability.

Together with International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Globaïa and other partners, the centre created the website Welcome to the Anthropocene to  improve our understanding of the Earth system. The site aims to inspire, educate and engage people about humanity's impact on Earth. Part of the project included the production of the video above which afterwards has had a tremendous viral effect.

Related videos

"An Urbanizing Planet" takes viewers on a stunning satellite-viewed tour around our planet. By combining more than 10 datasets, and using GIS processing software and 3D graphic applications, the video shows not only where urbanization will be most extensive, but also how the majority of the expansion will occur in areas adjacent to biodiversity hotspots.

"Climate change - the state of the science" summarises and visualizes several of the most significant statements in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) recent Fifth ssessment Report, (Working Group I summary for policymakers, the Physical Science Basis).

"Water in the Anthropocene" charts the global impact of humans on the water cycle. The data visualisation was commissioned by the Global Water Systems Project for a major international conference (Water in the Anthropocene, Bonn, Germany, 21-24 May, 2013).

Read more

In 2000, Nobel Laureate Paul Crutzen, IGBP Vice-chair at the time, and Eugene F. Stoermer proposed that humanity had driven the world into a new geological period, the Anthropocene. The article below first appeared in IGBP's Global Change magazine (Newsletter 41). In 2002, a related article was published in the journal Nature. In recent years, the concept has gained much attention within the scientific community and now more widely.

Read more about the Anthropocene here

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Stockholm Resilience Centre is a collaboration between Stockholm University and the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Stockholm Resilience Centre
Stockholm University, Kräftriket 2B
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Phone: +46 8 674 70 70
info@stockholmresilience.su.se

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