ANTHROPOCENE: THE ZEITGEIST OF THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY

Vipul Singh

Anthropocene proposes that humans play an active role in shaping and altering the Earth. Recently, Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy has voted against the proposal to give Anthropocene a formal recognition. Despite this, Anthropocene is likely to remain important in discussions related to human influence on the planet.

Anthropocene is a conceptual framework in environmental history. It denotes a geological epoch, which is characterised by the profound influence of human activities on the Earth’s ecological system. It suggests that human activities have become major drivers of environmental change on a global scale.

Huge accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is leading to dramatic warming of earth being felt in the twenty first century, also termed as global warming. The average temperatures around the world have risen by about 0.5°C since the beginning of the twentieth century. If emissions continue at the current rate, a temperature rise of 1.5°C to 4.5°C is likely in next one decade or so. Global warming is leading to climate anomalies all around the world. While some dry regions are experiencing torrential rainfall, the rainfed areas are facing frequent droughts. Recent climate change has been examined by many historians and they consider human actions in the past to be responsible for this, what is also known a anthropogenic change.

According to the geologists, we are in the Holocene epoch, which began approximately 11,700 years. It is characterized by relatively stable climate. Holocene has provided the backdrop for the entirety of human history, including the development of agriculture and the rise of civilizations. It is within this epoch that the trajectory of human civilization has unfolded. 

In the year 2000, Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer, coined the term Anthropocene as a distinct human epoch in earth’s history. Ever since then he along with many other geologists and historians advocated of the Anthropocene contend that human activities have exerted such profound alterations upon the Earth that they warrant the recognition of a new geological epoch.

Anthropocene calls on us to rethink how we interact with nature and work together to protect our planet for future generations. It puts people in a new position in relation to the rest of nature. Basically, humans have emerged as a force of nature on this planet. We are changing Earth’s climate faster than at any time in the last hundred thousand years, as a result of increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at rates faster than any time since the dinosaurs. 

Over the years, geologists have actively pursued formal acknowledgment of the Anthropocene from the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy (SQS). SQS is a constituent body of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), which is the foremost scientific organisation within the International Union of Geological Sciences. The SQS has recently voted down the proposal to formally recognise Anthropocene as a distinct epoch in earth’s long history. Despite this 12 to 4 vote against the proposal by the SQS, the essence and significance of the Anthropocene would remain intact. The Anthropocene concept is the defining characteristic of the era we live in, where human impact on the environment is a central concern. 

In contemporary historical discourse, particularly among environmental historians, the Anthropocene has attained widespread recognition. It stands as a prominent term encapsulating the ethos of the twenty-first century. Historians widely agree that human activities have profoundly influenced Earth’s transformation and atmospheric conditions. However, the precise onset of the Anthropocene remains a subject of ongoing debate among scholars. Thus, while the SQS’s decision may suggest hesitation within geological circles, the Anthropocene’s acknowledgment among historians remains robust and significant.

When did Anthropocene begin?

When did humans really become a global shaper of the Earth? There are diverse opinions. Paul Crutzen proposed that the Anthropocene commenced in the late eighteenth century, coinciding with the rise of the fossil fuel era. The advent of coal as a pivotal energy source in Britain during the 1780s marked the inception of this epoch, a trend further propelled by the subsequent exploitation of oil and natural gas driven by technological advancements and escalating energy demands. By the 1890s, fossil fuels accounted for half of global energy consumption, a figure that has since surged to nearly 80 percent, signifying humanity’s profound reliance on these resources. The trajectory of significant population growth lends credence to Crutzen’s assertion of an eighteenth-century origin for the Anthropocene.

Paul Crutzen argued that major transformation occurred after the Industrial Revolution. Coal use as energy resource was the main basis of Crutzen’s argument. Before the Industrial Revolution, coal wasn’t widely used around the world. The real shift happened with the invention of more efficient steam engines during the 18th and 19th centuries. Among these inventions, James Watt’s steam engine stands out as one of the most famous. While the steam engine found various applications, its pivotal role was in pumping water out of coal mines. This function was crucial for sustaining the nascent English industrialization by preventing mines from flooding. Gradually, steam engines began powering not just pumps but also a range of machines, including looms and factories. These engines were remarkable because they could convert the chemical energy stored in coal into heat, and then into useful kinetic energy, enabling the production of goods and facilitating transportation.

John McNeill agrees that the industrialization of the late eighteenth century marked the beginning of significant changes in atmospheric chemistry, but to him the full impact took time to manifest. It became more apparent in the nineteenth century. The most transformative phase came in the mid twentieth century after the second world war. After the war, there was exponential increase in fossil fuel consumption. This era marked a dramatic escalation in human influence on Earth’s systems, with profound implications for climate change and environmental sustainability. It was from 1945 onwards that ‘Great Acceleration’ in human induced changes in the environment were done. Our carbon emissions propelled atmospheric CO2 concentrations to huge scale. After 1945 there has been a substantial escalation in human-induced alterations to the biosphere, such as, extensive dam construction, urban expansion, loss of biodiversity, acidification of oceans, and the pervasive accumulation of plastic waste, among others. 

The middle of the twentieth century is not the only proposed beginning for the Anthropocene. Few historians argue for the advent of fire as the beginning of Anthropocene. Andrew Glikson posits that the inception of the Anthropocene, and subsequently the onset of the sixth mass extinction of species, stems from humanity’s mastery of fire, which amplifies carbon emission in nature beyond our long-term control. The discovery and propagation of fire, dating back over 1.8 million years, thus represents an important juncture in biological evolution, marking the onset of ‘early Anthropocene’ era.

Other major proposals are that the Anthropocene began very early with farmers first clearing the forests across the Earth for agriculture, which happened at least 5,000 to 8,000 years ago. That release of carbon dioxide potentially changed climate. Production of rice also released lots of methane, which to few historians, changed Earth’s climate 5,000 years ago. 

The advent of the Neolithic period, enabled by the stabilization of the Holocene climate, signifies the ‘Middle Anthropocene’, ushering in significant changes in human societies and their relationship with the environment. 

Conversely, the commencement of the industrial age circa 1750 AD marks the Late Anthropocene, characterized by rapid technological advancements and extensive resource exploitation, leading to profound alterations in global ecosystems and atmospheric conditions.

Another perspective on the ‘early Anthropocene’ places its onset around 5,000 BCE, coinciding with the emergence of agricultural practices in regions like southwest Asia and China. Early farmers, through deforestation and rice paddy cultivation, significantly altered the carbon cycle, contributing to enhanced greenhouse gas emissions and potentially averting an anticipated return to Ice Age conditions.

We even have the proposal for beginning the anthropocene in the year, post-1492 with the old world and new world collision. After Christopher Columbus made a landfall in Americas, there were exchange of cattle, crops, disease and pathogens between the old world (Europe) and the new world (Americas). There were many types of devastating effects on the populations of the Americas. Donald Worster proposes 1492 as a critical juncture in Anthropocene discourse as it coincides with the onset of transcontinental voyages and the subsequent redistribution of species across continents, which reshaped the biosphere. The migration of livestock to the Americas after 1492 left enduring traces in the fossil record. Recent researches suggest that the depopulation American landscapes facilitated spontaneous reforestation. This anthropogenic reforestation were driven by newly introduced diseases, violence, and dispossession. It led to the abandonment of farmland and allowed forests to sequester carbon from the atmosphere as they regenerated. 

Jason Moore argues for a fresh perspective on geological time what we call Anthropocene. Anthropocene acknowledges the entire humanity as a significant geological force, which is not the reality. The traditional societies have not been responsible for the massive carbon emission in the atmosphere leading to climate change. Moore introduces the notion of the ‘Capitalocene’, which recognizes capitalism as a system that organizes nature within a complex web of interdependencies. In the Capitalocene framework, nature is understood as a multi-species, situated entity intricately tied to capitalist structures and processes. This perspective encourages a deeper examination of the role of states, empires, and socio-economic power dynamics in shaping environmental transformations on a global scale.

Darwin’s ground-breaking research in 1859 shattered the notion of human exceptionalism, positioning humans as integral components of the tree of life. However, the concept of the Anthropocene posits that humans are not merely passive observers of Earth’s processes; rather, they actively shape and transform the planet. Our collective actions are fundamentally altering the Earth’s ecosystems, with far-reaching implications for our modes of thinking, living, and governance in the future. Thus, regardless of formal recognition by academic bodies, the term Anthropocene is poised to endure within research circles as an integral component of anthropogenic discourse.It is the zeitgeist of the twenty-first century.

References:

1. Andrew Glikson, “Fire and Human Evolution: The Deep-Time Blueprints of the Anthropocene,” Anthropocene 3 (2013): 89–92; 

2. Erle Ellis et al., “Dating the Anthropocene: Towards an Empirical Global History of Human Transformation of the Terrestrial Biosphere,” Elementa (2013), doi: 10.12952/journal.elementa.000018; 

3. William Ruddiman, “The Anthropocene,” Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 41 (2013): 45–68. 

4. Simon Lewis and Mark Maslin, “Defining the Anthropocene,” Nature 519 (2015): 171–180.

5. John McNeill, The Great Acceleration: An Environmental History of the Anthropocene since 1945, 2016.

6. Jason Moore ed., Anthropocene or Capitalocene?, 2016.