With the term “Anthropocene” scholars from various disciplines illustrate the idea of a recent geological epoch in which human activity has made an unprecedented impact on the planet. Human modification of geological and ecological processes has accelerated rapidly over the span of the twentieth century.
The expansion of industrial growth, especially in the “great acceleration” and the surge of energy use after the Second World War, urbanization and the socio-cultural changes that accompany it, as well as the lifestyle and mind-set of most people all over the world are factors contributing to what is happening to our planet. In the past five decades, human activity has begun to change the earth at a rate and on a scale that is fundamentally different from anything seen before in human history. Today, two-thirds of the world’s ecosystems are degraded and being used unsustainably. The evidences of climate change are clear and so are its potentially catastrophic results. Due to their extreme use, the reserves of traditional resources are declining, which will, in turn, have a profound effect on the global economy.
All of these interdependent issues threaten the world and humankind’s wellbeing; their consequences already affect food, water, energy, resource security and so forth. In order to reverse this trend, we need to develop strategies for a peaceful and equitable relationship between humans and the earth. The only way to attain a global equilibrium is through immediate and effective transition to sustainability – a transition to a world that sustains abundant and diverse life, and does so humanely – which can be inspired by some local experiences and original new conceptualizations.
Deadline: September 30, 2018.
This issue is scheduled to appear at end-October 2018.
