Manmade

A special issue exploring the consequences of a new geologic epoch: the Age of Man.

Spring 2013 cover

Welcome to the Anthropocene

As in all things, the bacteria got there first. One tiny cell built inside of itself a new pigment, a brilliant green thanks to its ability to absorb only certain colors in the light of a younger, weaker Sun. The pigment – dubbed chlorophyll by animals that rely on this one cell’s innumerable descendants to power name-giving brains – channeled the energy in sunshine to split the waters of Earth’s early oceans. The cell took in carbon dioxide, paired it with once watery hydrogen, and made food. In the process out bubbled a flammable gas that made life as we know it possible: oxygen.

These bacteria were the first geoengineers – large-scale manipulators of the planetary environment.… more …


Contents


Anthropocene Reports
Chemically Altered
Synthetic chemicals permeate the environment to such an extent that they have changed the chemistry of our planet
Extremely Loud
We have drowned out the natural soundscape
And Incredibly Bright
We have blotted out the night sky
A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Planet Earth
City Life
Our urban environs have become ecosystems all their own
Running Dry
We are sucking the world’s ancient freshwater stores faster than they can be replenished

Anthropocene Essays
David Biello
Welcome to the Anthropocene
Kathleen Dean Moore
Anthropocene is the Wrong Word
Raj Patel
Misanthropocene?
Mark Hertsgaard
Living Through the Anthropocene Storm
Ginger Strand
Beware the Rainmakers
Gus Speth
Will Branding Help?
Derrick Jensen
Age of the Sociopath
Alan Weisman
Anthropocenic Creation Tale

You Make Our Work Possible

You Make Our Work Possible

We don’t have a paywall because, as a nonprofit publication, our mission is to inform, educate and inspire action to protect our living world. Which is why we rely on readers like you for support. If you believe in the work we do, please consider making a tax-deductible year-end donation to our Green Journalism Fund.

Donate
Get the Journal in your inbox.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Subscribe Now

Get four issues of the magazine at the discounted rate of $20.