Publisher's Synopsis
An engrossing analysis of the pseudo-democratic methods employed by despots around the world to retain control
Throughout our planet's past, events such as meteorite collisions, super volcano eruptions, and the movement of tectonic plates have conspired to make the Earth we inhabit. Given our current impacts on the Earth, have we too become a geological superpower?
In this compelling book, leading scientists Simon Lewis and Mark Maslin argue the answer is a resounding yes. The geological time within which farming, cities, and the modern world developed-called the Holocene Epoch-is over. Using the Greek words for "humans" and "recent time," scientists have named this new period the Anthropocene. Lewis and Maslin offer an accessible overview of the evidence for this view, including a start date for this period, the year 1610, when the impacts of the newly globalized economy were first felt worldwide. In doing so, they show we have entered an unstable time, with huge repercussions for our home planet and how we live.
Throughout our planet's past, events such as meteorite collisions, super volcano eruptions, and the movement of tectonic plates have conspired to make the Earth we inhabit. Given our current impacts on the Earth, have we too become a geological superpower?
In this compelling book, leading scientists Simon Lewis and Mark Maslin argue the answer is a resounding yes. The geological time within which farming, cities, and the modern world developed-called the Holocene Epoch-is over. Using the Greek words for "humans" and "recent time," scientists have named this new period the Anthropocene. Lewis and Maslin offer an accessible overview of the evidence for this view, including a start date for this period, the year 1610, when the impacts of the newly globalized economy were first felt worldwide. In doing so, they show we have entered an unstable time, with huge repercussions for our home planet and how we live.
