Anthropocene dynamics

Photo: J.C. Gellidon/Unsplash

Photo: R. Kautsky/Azote

This focus area explores the implications of living in a time where humans are the main force for change on the planet

We have entered the Anthropocene, a new era where humans shape every aspect of the biosphere. This means humans now rival natural forces in shaping the functioning, processes, and dynamics of the Earth system.

The implications of living in the Anthropocene also means new evolutionary processes, new aspects of control, new levels of connectivities, and new types of risks. This will have broad implications for the understanding and navigation of global resilience and sustainability.

Trade, financialization, human migration, urbanization, technological development and communication are increasingly connecting people and life-support systems in ever more distant geographic locations.

The speed, magnitude and extent at which these interconnectivities play out is unprecedented and profoundly complex.

The implications of this human-driven transformation of Earth’s biosphere has bearings on global biodiversity, spread of species, ecosystem functioning, water cycles, and climate.

This theme explores how global biophysical and socioeconomic dynamics emerge, interact, and shape the relationships between humans and nature, and what the social and environmental consequences are.

To advance this young research field, we need to apply both existing methods and theories, as well as developing new ones.

This theme will be an incubator for novel research ideas and a meeting place for different disciplines and perspectives to understand and support the human capacity to navigate life in the Anthropocene.

Theme contacts

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Peter Søgaard Jørgensen

Lan Wang Erlandsson

Tiina Häyhä

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