Open AccessL'Anthropocène : quand l'histoire humaine rencontre l'histoire de la Terre
Author(s) -
JeanBaptiste Fressoz
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
didactica historica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2297-7465
DOI - 10.33055/didacticahistorica.2016.002.01.29
Subject(s) - anthropocene , humanity , epoch (astronomy) , environmental ethics , history , natural history , environmental crisis , ethnology , humanities , geography , philosophy , ecology , theology , biology , stars , physics , astronomy
In recent years, the geological concept of the Anthropocene has attracted strong interest in both the natural and human sciences. Anthropologists, philosophers and sociologists have been challenged by this proposal to open up a new geological epoch to describe the magnitude of the current environmental crisis. For historians, the Anthropocene has the great advantage, compared to other terms such as ‘environmental crisis’ or ‘global change’, to place mankind and time, and thus history at the centre. This article offers elements to answer the obvious and complex question: how has humanity tipped the planet over into the Anthropocene ?