Seen at IKEA, Berlin-Tempelhof

Montanuniversiät Leoben, Austria

New York Times’ “Dot Earth” blogger Andy Revkin ran my perspective on the question whether a “good Anthropocene” is possible. Here’ the link the the blog and here is my text…

We suggest that the modern biosphere differs significantly from these previous stages and shows early signs of a new, third stage of biosphere evolution. Unique features of today’s biosphere may herald a new era in the planet’s history that could persist over geological timescales.

Pope Francis’ new encyclical on how we humans treat our environment and Earth’s climate is triggering a global debate on our value system. I’m glad this is happening. When I wrote the original German version of “The Anthropocene” in 2008/09 I formulated the dream of a “Green Pope” who goes on a global walk to convince people that we need to treat our fellow beings on Earth better and take care of the climate…

Since Eugene Stoermer and Paul Crutzen proposed to rename our current geological epoch in the year 2000 in an attempt to reflect man-made changes to planet Earth, the idea of an “Anthropocene” is going viral. Natural scientists, humanities scholars, artists, politicians, environmentalists and others are trying to grasp and explore the significance of this new concept and to understand its implications. What is the Anthropocene — the sum of all environmental problems, or more, an expression of a new phase in human and planetary evolution?

Berlin’s Teufelsberg comprises many layers from the past: a small natural hill from the last Ice Age, Hitler’s bombed War University, rubble from World War II and a former global NSA surveillance post on top. It’s not enough to turn this site into yet another memorial. Let’s be more creative and make Teufelsberg a “Maker Space” for the future…

The limitations of the earth’s surface have been made vividly clear to mankind ever since the first photographs taken from space. This realisation has led to a different understanding of our interaction with land and with the landscape.
Today we live in the Anthropocene, that period of the earth’s existence in which mankind is the determining force. This catalogue offers different perspectives on landscapes in the Anthropocene. Published by Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz.