The Human Environment: The “Anthroposphere”
摘要
Population growth and the rise in quality of life have led the human society to establish a new environment—the Anthroposphere—where most human social and economic activity takes place. This human-made environment was shaped by major revolutions, particularly the “Agricultural Revolution” and the “Scientific-Industrial Revolution.” Meanwhile, activity within the Anthroposphere has influenced and even reshaped the natural environment—living (animate) and inanimate. Moreover, the development of economic and sociocultural models and processes, prioritizing economic growth beyond the limits of natural systems (especially consumer culture, which has become the dominant culture of our time) has led to the distancing, even dissociation, of Humanity from Nature, resulting in damage to natural resources and ecosystems. In this context, the profound and widespread negative changes in natural resources, the quantities and types of various chemicals, both lost and found in Nature, along with the negative changes in biodiversity, have recently prompted calls for the determination of a new geological epoch—the Anthropocene—reflecting the fact that the human species is now (mis)shaping our Planet.