역사, 기후, 교육-인류세 시대 기후사 연구와 교육-

Abstract

Taking Anthropocene as a new periodization, this paper pays a close attention to climate history as the main driving force to lead the future history research and education. According to what we have analyzed in this paper, one common tendency is conspicuous across climate history research and education field, i.e. putting weight on local contexts and experiences in the nonlinear relationship of human beings and climate. This seems to be the most effective way to understand the quintessence of climate problem and to search for practical solutions to climate crisis. Climate system is not an autocatalytic system, but a complex system which is operated by nonlinear interactions of numerous factors. And human collective agency as a geological force has had impact on climate system since the beginning of agriculture. This means that the future of climate change won’t be determined solely by the internal dynamics of climate system. Here is the reason why the climate research and education concept pay close attention to more diverse and concrete reaction of human beings. However, emphasizing human agency and cultural context should not lead to ignore the whole dynamics of earth system including climate system. Even as a geological force of Anthropocene, human beings are not more than a part of climate system which is in its turn subject to the dynamic pressure of earth system. In this context, the message of ‘planetary threshold’ in the climate chemist Will Steffen’s meaning is significant: Once past the threshold, the interface where human climate action can kick in will be shut down. From that point of time on, the derailed dynamic of earth system will take over the upper hand.