Our future in the Anthropocene biosphere

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed an interconnected and tightly coupled globalized world in rapid change. This article sets the scientific stage for understanding and responding to such change for global sustainability and resilient societies. We provide a systemic overview of the current situation...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ambio Vol. 50; no. 4; pp. 834 - 869
Main Authors: Folke, Carl, Polasky, Stephen, Rockström, Johan, Galaz, Victor, Westley, Frances, Lamont, Michèle, Scheffer, Marten, Österblom, Henrik, Carpenter, Stephen R., Chapin, F. Stuart, Seto, Karen C., Weber, Elke U., Crona, Beatrice I., Daily, Gretchen C., Dasgupta, Partha, Gaffney, Owen, Gordon, Line J., Hoff, Holger, Levin, Simon A., Lubchenco, Jane, Steffen, Will, Walker, Brian H.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Dordrecht Springer Science + Business Media 01.04.2021
Springer Netherlands
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Anthropocene
Anthropocene epoch
Atmospheric Sciences
Biodiversity
Biodiversity loss
Biosphere
Biosphere stewardship
Climate
Climate Change
COVID-19
COVID-19 infection
Cultural differences
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecology
Environment
Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology
Environmental Management
Future
Humans
Inequality
Innovations
Management
New technology
Pandemics
people
Physical Geography
Portfolios
Resilience
SARS-CoV-2
Social-ecological
Sustainability
Uncertainty
WHITE PAPER
Anthropocene
Social-ecological
Climate
Biosphere stewardship
Biodiversity
Resilience
ISSN:0044-7447, 1654-7209, 1654-7209
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed an interconnected and tightly coupled globalized world in rapid change. This article sets the scientific stage for understanding and responding to such change for global sustainability and resilient societies. We provide a systemic overview of the current situation where people and nature are dynamically intertwined and embedded in the biosphere, placing shocks and extreme events as part of this dynamic; humanity has become the major force in shaping the future of the Earth system as a whole; and the scale and pace of the human dimension have caused climate change, rapid loss of biodiversity, growing inequalities, and loss of resilience to deal with uncertainty and surprise. Taken together, human actions are challenging the biosphere foundation for a prosperous development of civilizations. The Anthropocene reality— of rising system-wide turbulence—calls for transformative change towards sustainable futures. Emerging technologies, social innovations, broader shifts in cultural repertoires, as well as a diverse portfolio of active stewardship of human actions in support of a resilient biosphere are highlighted as essential parts of such transformations.
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ISSN:0044-7447
1654-7209
1654-7209
DOI:10.1007/s13280-021-01544-8