num_pages: 224
description: Humans have changed the Earth so profoundly that weve ushered in the first new geologic period since the ice ages. So what are we going to do about it? Ever since Nobel Prizewinning atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen coined the term Anthropocene to describe our current eraone in which human impact on the environment has pushed Earth into an entirely new geological epocharguments for and against the new designation have been raging. Finally an official working group of scientists was created to determine once and for all whether we humans have tossed one too many plastic bottles out the car window and wrought a change so profound as to be on par with the end of the last ice age. In summer 2016 the answer came Yes . In Making the Most of the Anthropocene  scientist Mark Denny tackles this hard truth head-on and considers burning How did we reach our present technological and ecological state? How are we going to cope with our uncertain future? Will we come out of this or are we doomed as a species? Is there anything we can do about what happens next? This book  explains what the Anthropocene is and why it is important offers suggestions for minimizing harm instead of fretting about an impending environmental apocalypse combines easy-to-grasp scientific technological economic and anthropological analyses In Making the Most of the Anthopocene  there are no equations no graphs and no impenetrable jargon. Instead you'll find a fascinating cast of characters including journalists from outer space peppered moths and unjustly maligned Polynesians. In his bright lively voice Denny envisions a future that balances reaction and reason one in which humanity emerges bloody but unbowedand in which those of us who are prepared can make the most of the Anthropocene.
language: English
title: Making the Most of the Anthropocene: Facing the Future
publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press