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![Olduvai Theory of
Industrialisation
The rush for oil
extraction and fossil
fuel usage, starting
with James Watts’
invention of the
steam engine, and
plunges when the
oil reserves drop to
37%. This prediction
is the most extreme
one, but not
altogether
impossible.
Peak Oil
c. 1930 c. 2025
Pre-Industrial Phase [c. 3,000,000 BC to 1765]
A = Tool making begins (c. 3,000,000 BC)
B = Fire use begins (c. 1,000,000 BC)
C = Neolithic Agricultural Revolution (c. 8,000 BC)
D = Watt's steam engine, 1765
Interval D-E is a transition period.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/1060010anthropocene-150319000220-conversion-gate01/85/The-Anthropocene-14-320.jpg)
Uploaded byAniket Mukherjee
The Anthropocene
The document discusses the Anthropocene period, defined as the current geological age marked by human activity significantly impacting the Earth's climate and environment. It traces the evolution of human impacts from early agriculture and industry to the current Anthropocene age, where population growth and industrialization have caused large-scale global disruptions. The document also examines potential future scenarios under continued business-as-usual practices, mitigation efforts, or geoengineering interventions, concluding that transitioning to a more sustainable "Sustainocene" approach will determine the trajectory of the planet.
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The Anthropocene
- 1. ANTHROPOCENE INTERACTING WITH THEENVIRONMENT BY ANIKET MUKHERJEE (IMTH 9TH SEMESTER)
- 2. Paul Crutzen (2000) Namingthe Anthropocene Paul Crutzen, who had shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1995 for his observation of the depletion of the atmospheric ozone layer over Antarctica, declared that so extensive has been the damage to the biosphere caused by human activities since the industrial transition, that the present interglacial era, hitherto named the Holocene, should be re-named the Anthropocene
- 3. DEFINING THE ANTHROPOCENE Aperiod marked by a regime change in the activity of industrial societies which began at the turn of the nineteenth century and which has caused global disruptions in the Earth System on a scale unprecedented in human history: climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution of the sea, land and air, resources depletion, land cover degradation, radical transformation of the biosphere and the geosphere. These phenomena call for a paradigm shift in the way we frame our worldviews, and the methods we practice in our inhabitation of the planet.
- 4. A Brief TimelineOf Human History LIFESTYLE TIME PERIOD (in yrs.) Hunter-Gatherers > 200,000 Agriculture (Holocene) > 10,000 Cities > 5,000 Fossil-fuelled Industry (Anthropocene) > 250 Information Technology > 50 Sustainoncene (???) > 25
- 5. Holocene: Pre-Anthropocene TheAgricultural Revolution set into motion the drive of humans to bend nature to their will. Domestication, Deforestations, and the pseudo- invention of fire. All these factors aided in this endeavour, though at a very local or regional level. The Invention of Writing, led to ‘Knowledge Accumulation’ and ‘Social Learning’; and is considered to be an important catalytic process.
- 6. Anthropocene- I (1800-1945) TheIndustrial Revolution The technology for the Anthropocene was launched by Scottish engineer James Watt, who invented the first effective coal-driven steam engine in 1754, which progressively replaced muscle power in factories. To facilitate transport of goods and people, George Stephenson in 1829 invented the first workable steam locomotive, named The Rocket The expansion of economic society. Demography becomes a secondary appendage to economic growth Human population expands from about 750 million to about 2.5 billion. The first global population explosion
- 7. Anthropocene II (1945-Present ) Age of Acceleration Soon after World War II, in 1950 with the USA as its epicenter the most rapid and pervasive shift in the human-environment relationship began, coinciding with the advent of the USA as a world military, economic, and cultural power. Human population doubled in 50yrs, to 6 billion by the end of the 20th century. Global Economy multiplied 15-fold. By the advent of the 21st century, 50% of the population was living in urban areas.
- 8. Anthropocene III (Present - Near Future) Sustainocene We are currently standing at a sort of crossroads. The one species that emerged from nature, to becoming virtual masters of it. We have come a long way, from cowering on hearing rumbling thunder and flashing lightning; to discussing ways on harnessing nature to fulfil our energy needs, on a global-scale. We have become a geo-physical force, battling the forces of nature to establish our mastery over them.
- 9. Continued……. Human-induced changeraises disturbing questions about the future of Earth and the environmental services that support human civilization. “The Earth is rapidly moving into a less biologically diverse, less forested, much warmer, and probably wetter and stormier state.” According to a growing section of environmentalists, it is high time the current environmental model of ‘only protection and preservation’ is overhauled by more comprehensive ‘management model’
- 10. On the globalscale during the post-glacial era of the Holocene, the earth’s atmosphere maintained its average of surface and oceanic temperatures relatively stable at around 14C through the trapping of the sun’s infra-red heat by so-called greenhouse gases (GHGs), which make life on our planet possible. This mechanism was first proposed by the French mathematician Fourier, by the English scientist Tindal and organized on a scientific basis by Swedish physicist and chemist Svante Arrhenius (1859- 1927) Svante Arrhenius (1896) Greenhouse gases
- 11. Characteristics of The Anthropocene Huge prevalent nutrition gap. Excessive sugar intake….. Leading to obesity… and other related disorders Homo sedentarius Species extinction, Ocean Acidification, Global Pollution and Warming, Ozone Layer Depletion, Peak Fish and Peak Oil. Continued Deforestation Neglecting both the potential in renewable energy sources and sustainable housing and agricultural practices
- 12. Impacts on HumanHealth Advantages: 1) Decreased maternal deaths. Double life expectancy. 2) Generally improved material living standards and improvements in public health and medical care Disadvantages: 1) Epidemics, Emerging and Re-emerging infectious diseases, Antibiotic resistance 2) Increasing cases of chronic alcohol and drug abuse 3) Perceived social and mental disorders, Emergence of new cancer types
- 13. Impacts on GlobalHealth Extreme weather events; Polar Vortexes; Hyperthermia; Habitat Loss Emergence of both vector-borne and water-borne diseases. Antibiotic resistance. Economic collapse; The Great Recession; Resource Wars.
- 14. Olduvai Theory of Industrialisation Therush for oil extraction and fossil fuel usage, starting with James Watts’ invention of the steam engine, and plunges when the oil reserves drop to 37%. This prediction is the most extreme one, but not altogether impossible. Peak Oil c. 1930 c. 2025 Pre-Industrial Phase [c. 3,000,000 BC to 1765] A = Tool making begins (c. 3,000,000 BC) B = Fire use begins (c. 1,000,000 BC) C = Neolithic Agricultural Revolution (c. 8,000 BC) D = Watt's steam engine, 1765 Interval D-E is a transition period.
- 15. Current Scenario inBrief Research is ongoing, particularly on “interdisciplinary work on human-environment systems” The emergence of The Internet as “a global self- organizing information system” Democratic political systems and the emergence of sustainable civil societies. The spread of free and open societies.
- 16. Road to TheFuture There are three ways by which the problems that have arisen in the Anthropocene, can be tackled: 1) Business-as-usual 2) Mitigation 3) Geo-engineering A fourth option still under consideration is Social Ecology and the concept of Re-inhabitation.
- 17. ‘Business-As-Usual’ Scenario Thismodel makes certain assumptions like: Human-driven changes do not disrupt global economy and societies. The ‘market-oriented’ economic system can adapt quickly to the rapidly changing conditions Resources are still plentiful enough to mitigate the damage already done, without significantly making any changes.
- 18. Potential Risks The long-termmomentum built into the Earth System means that: By the time humans realize that a business-as-usual approach may not work; The world will be committed to further decades or even centuries of environmental change. Collapse of modern, globalized society under uncontrollable environmental change is the one highly likely outcome.
- 19. Mitigation Scenario Improved technologyand social organization Wiser use of resources Control of human and animal population Conservation and restoration of the environment
- 20. Continued….. Mitigation iscurrently the preferred option, as it does not require a drastic overhaul of the entire global economic system, but the one crucial factor in this particular scenario is ‘ENERGY’ In addition to the many opportunities for energy conservation, numerous technologies, from solar thermal and photovoltaic through nuclear fission and fusion to wind power and biofuels from forests and crops, are available now or are under development to replace fossil fuels. Another factor which is stressed upon is dematerialisation. To do more with less.
- 21. Geo-engineering Scenario Themain objective of this scenario is the sequestering of Carbon dioxide in underground reservoirs, and the controlled release of aerosols into the stratosphere to reflect the sun’s rays. But this scenario carries the huge risk of ‘unintended consequences’. The ethical debates that are raging at the moment mentions that the cures just might be worse than the disease.
- 22. Sustainocene- Hoping forthe future From 19th century of ancient, dirty, non-renewable solar CAPITAL To 21st century of clean renewable solar CURRENCY: Local: Building design and operation (insulation, solar hot water, photovoltaics), biofuels Central: Solar Thermal Electricity (STE): covering 0.5% of deserts with mirrors focused on turbines would meet all electricity needs. Also geothermal; wind; waves; tides
- 23. Continued…… Transport: Fromroad to rail, from air to wind-assisted ships; hybrid cars; biofuels from algae and crop wastes, not from food crops or palm oil from cleared forests; Solar or wind - generated H2 in fuel cells Agriculture: Cease land clearing; move to organic agriculture for better water retention, less pesticides, herbicides; local food production to reduce transport costs Health: Equity of resources; healthy nutrition; more use of muscle power; adaptation to inevitable global warming.
- 24. Anthropocene v/s Sustainocene (TheFive "Ps") POPULATION POVERTY POLLUTION PROFIT PREPARATION FOR WARFARE (The Four "Es") ENLIGHTENMENT ECOLOGY EDUCATION ETHICS
- 25. The ABC ofEnlightenment Awe Beauty Caritas
- 26. CONCLUSION I conclude bystating that at this point of time, we are at a tipping point, it does not matter what the next epoch is named. Rather what we do in this epoch that will decide where our world would go from here-on. Will we fulfil the direst of scientific predictions or will we be finally be at peace with the evolving planet, that is our only home, is a question that still remains to be answered.
- 27. THANK YOU We haveto save this planet - It's the only one with chocolate!