Living in the Anthropocene : business as usual, or compassionate retreat?

Abstract

Human activity is changing the earth at a global scale. Atmospheric carbon dioxide reached 400 parts per million (ppm) in 2013, and there are no policies in place to prevent it from passing 450 ppm. This makes it highly unlikely that the 2009 Copenhagen agreement to limit warming to 2 degrees Celsius will be achieved, and there are many reasons to believe that this goal itself is too high to be safe. Projected sea-level rise will encroach on many of the world’s urban centers and agricultural lands, while shifts in regional weather patterns are leading to additional concerns about food, water, political insecurity, and massive migrations of climate refugees. All of this occurs in a world where already-high rates of species extinctions are set to rise dramatically due to climate change.