The Anthropocene

June 3, 2005 1:07 PM

The Climate of Man. The New Yorker has made Elizabeth Kolbert's three-part series on climate change (previously mentioned here) available online. Part I: How the earth is changing, Part II: The curse of Akkad, and Part III: What can be done? Say goodbye to the Holocene, and hello to the Anthropocene. [Via WorldChanging.]
posted by homunculus (7 comments total)

After having read this series as it was published in the New Yorker, I can also say goodbye denial and hello sleepless nights.

Any of our Mefites willing to take issue with the conclusions of the articles? (In a phrase, We Are So Fucked.) I'd be glad to hear a convincing, scientifically based, dissenting opinion.
posted by jokeefe at 2:54 PM on June 3, 2005

ahhh.... for all the doubters - perhaps they might want to check the kremin's i mean whitehouse's own EPA website:

"There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities. Human activities have altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the buildup of greenhouse gases – primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The heat-trapping property of these gases is undisputed..."

I'm sure these words really piss people like Inhofe off but there they are.

This is an excellent series by the new yorker... highly recommended.
posted by specialk420 at 3:20 PM on June 3, 2005

This is a book length article. Can anyone provide some salient meta points?
posted by stbalbach at 6:52 PM on June 3, 2005

The BBC has an article about the newly released atlas of environmental change showing the changes taking place on the surface of the earth here.

"The United Nations Environmental Programme (Unep) produced One Planet Many People: Atlas of our Changing Environment in collaboration with other agencies such as the US Geological Survey and the US space agency (Nasa)."
posted by infini at 9:02 PM on June 3, 2005

Like jokeefe, I read the series in the magazine and was convinced. I'm just hoping the shit doesn't hit the fan until after my grandkid's time.
posted by languagehat at 7:37 AM on June 4, 2005

What happens after your grandkids time? Theres a Chinese saying, perhaps apocryphal, to make decisions as if your planning for 12 generations in to the future.

BTW I recant my previous request for a meta summary, this work is too good not to be read in its entirety.
posted by stbalbach at 8:05 PM on June 4, 2005

The Long (Marmot) Goodbye
posted by homunculus at 1:24 PM on June 6, 2005