How is the Anthropocene helping to rethink the contemporary issue of Environmental Degradation?

MSc Environmental Change and International Development student, Jessica Southern, investigates how the Anthropocene is helping to rethink the contemporary issue of Environmental Degradation?

Deforestation in Borneo
"Deforestation in Borneo" by IndoMet in the Heart of Borneo is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Off

Significant environmental changes in the biosphere, including glacial retreat, rising carbon dioxide levels and declining rainforests,  These changes are largely driven by human activity; thus, researchers propose a new epoch, the Anthropocene, a term introduced to acknowledge humanity鈥檚 dominant role in environmental degradation (ED) (Crutzen and Stoermer, 2000).  through deforestation, urbanisation, industrialisation and overpopulation. This blog outlines how the Anthropocene is helping to rethink ED, by emphasising the instability of Earth鈥檚 current conditions compared to the , underscoring the drastic need for mitigation. Additionally, the Anthropocene recognises human activity as the primary driver of ED, thus encouraging investments in green technologies and international agreements for mitigation. This blog also critiques the Anthropocene using alternative perspectives such as the  and , which challenge the Anthropocene鈥檚 universality by highlighting the role of capitalism, colonialism, and systemic exploitation in driving ED.

Viewing ED from the Anthropocene perspective highlights the drastic shift from Holocene stability, underscoring the urgency for mitigation. Additionally, the Anthropocene perspective emphasises that humanity鈥檚 role in ED is not passive, rather it highlights how modern societies, through excessive consumption, unsustainable practices and economic growth have directly contributed to environmental destruction. For instance,  increasing atmospheric CO2 levels. Similarly,  Human activities including deforestation and the overexploitation of natural resources further exacerbate ED. For example, deforestation in the Amazon, , demonstrating humanity鈥檚 role in ED prioritising short-term profit over long-term environmental stability. The Anthropocene acknowledges humanity鈥檚 role as both a driver and victim of ED, promoting collective agency and a global sense of shared responsibility, inspiring international collaboration towards mitigation, and encouraging institutions like the UN to establish international goals, .

Human-induced ED stems from modernisation and advancement of science and technology, which separates humans from nature, This human-centric viewpoint positions humanity as separate and superior to nature, promoting the relentless exploitation of natural resources to drive economic expansion and technological progress through reliance on fossil fuels, large-scale agriculture, deforestation and widespread land use changes. The Anthropocene contests this separation by emphasising humanity's deep connection to the environment and the . The Anthropocene lens acknowledges Earth鈥檚 environmental limits and advocates for a transition from the paradigm of unchecked growth towards sustainability (Reichel and Perey, 2018). The Anthropocene shifts thinking to acknowledge humanity鈥檚 responsibility, therefore denoting that solutions should be rooted in human action and response. For example, the Anthropocene has facilitated an ontological shift of understanding of technology鈥檚 role in the emerging world, thus prompting vast investments in green technology and nature-based solutions; however, 

While the Anthropocene highlights humanity鈥檚 role in ED, researchers argue that the . From this critique emerged the perspective of the Capitalocene which emphasises that ED is deeply linked to capitalist economic systems, underscoring how capitalism, through its relentless pursuit of profit-driven resource extraction, environmental exploitation and industrialisation has been the primary driver of ED. Additionally, the Anthropocene presents the history of environmental change primarily as a succession of technological advancements and resource use, which promotes a simplified understanding of ED, overlooking the exploitative and profit-driven nature of these technological and economic systems including capitalism, colonialism, and systemic inequalities (Davis et al, 2019). The Capitalocene perspective underscores that without addressing the structures and systems enabling ED, humanity will continue to act with indifference towards the environment, perpetuating ED, this critique is extended by Malm and Hornborg (2014) emphasising that the Anthropocene鈥檚 emphasis on the Industrial Revolution reinforces a Eurocentric view by attributing ED to all of humanity rather than to the  Furthermore, Moore (2016) highlights how the Anthropocene lens masks the 

The Anthropocene is further critiqued by Davis and Todd (2017) for overlooking the colonial and enslaving foundations of environmental changes, such as the early 17th century Orbis Spike caused by a reduction in atmospheric CO2 resulting from the depopulation of the Americas, and the dispossession of Indigenous lands. Thus, the Plantationocene emerged as a critique of the Anthropocene . These critiques argue ED is not solely a modern industrial phenomenon, but an epistemological and material project aimed at replicating European norms on colonised lands. Whyte (2018) argues that the Anthropocene erases Indigenous communities鈥 historical experiences of and resistance to settler communities, thereby obscuring the role of colonialism in ED,  further contesting that ED is not the product of all of humanity, but rather a product of interconnected historical processes driven by a privileged minority, who facilitated global capitalism through settler colonialism and enslavement.

To conclude ED is a critical issue that demands urgent action to mitigate resource depletion, deforestation and biodiversity loss. The Anthropocene facilitates a comprehensive understanding and recognition of human activity as a primary driver of ED. The term encourages accountability and international collaboration for mitigation, while it promotes discourse around humanity's role in ED, and the devastating consequences of human development, it overlooks the historical and global inequalities, failing to address the roles of capitalism, colonialism, and systemic exploitation.


Author: Jessica Southern - MSc Environmental Change and International Development.


References

Crutzen, P.J. and Stoermer, E.F., 2000. The 鈥淎nthropocene鈥. Global Change Newsletter, 41, 17-18.

Davis, J., Moulton, A. A., Van Sant, L. & Williams, B. (2019). Anthropocene, Capitalocene, 鈥 Plantationocene?: A Manifesto for Ecological Justice in an Age of Global Crises. Geography Compass, 13(5), e12438.  

Davis, H. & Todd, Zoe. (2017). On the importance of a date, or decolonizing the Anthropocene. ACME. 16(4). 761-780. https://doi.org/10.14288/acme.v16i4.1539

Malm, A., & Hornborg, A. (2014). The geology of mankind? A critique of the Anthropocene narrative. The Anthropocene Review, 1(1), 62-69. https://doi.org/10.1177/2053019613516291

Reichel, A., & Perey, R. (2018). Moving beyond growth in the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene Review, 5(3), 242-249. 

Whyte, K. P. (2018). Indigenous science (fiction) for the Anthropocene: Ancestral dystopias and fantasies of climate change crises. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 1(1-2), 224-242.

Study with us

Join an international community of geographers, planners, and environmental scientists to help tackle the biggest issues in our changing world.

Find a postgraduate course

A masters from Sheffield means in-depth knowledge, advanced skills and the confidence to achieve your ambitions.