Anthropocene as an evolving paradigm

Abstract

At some point during the Holocene, human action began to accelerate or redirect landscape and biospheric evolution. Basic questions for this preface are whether we should define this new dynamism as an ‘Anthropocene era’ and how might it be delimited with respect to absolute time or to the Holocene. Traditional geo-stratigraphic nomenclature developed through accretion of field observations, vetted by theoretical discussion, to facilitate four-dimensional reference to lithology, topography, space, and time. Current notions for an Anthropocene carry additional connotations: (1) the focus is on a more dynamic agenda that is far from being synthesized; (2) this revolves around the increasingly salient role of cultural agents that selectively shape a multitude of small and large specific areas, so as to favor divergences and disjunctures; (3) the result is a non-normative dynamic of changing spatial configuration and temporal scales that was superimposed on non-cultural Holocene processes predominantly steered by ‘natural’ forces; and (4) this would argue for a flexible, time-transgressive concept, rather than a firm time-frame, that should stimulate identification and investigation of centers of early or unusual human disturbance. The amplified energy and amplitude of these culturally modified divergences are formidable, but Pleistocene glaciation posed a more severe test for biotic evolutionary success than did past or current global change driven by human actions. This would suggest that instead of proclaiming alarmist schedules, we should concentrate on constructive research and university instruction that better emphasizes environmental and sociocultural resilience, adaptation, and the interplay of buffering feedbacks with systemic micro-evolution.