Anthroposphere

As the biosphere acted for geological Eras as the geological force of the Earth system, one particular species came to dominate the biosphere in the late Holocene: the Homo sapiens. Humankind, In Vernadsky’s words, “became a single totality in the life of the earth”, operating on a level in which the scale of human production rivals the biogeochemical cycles of the planet and surpasses the biomass production of the non-human part of the biosphere. In this sense, some scientists recognize that humankind functions as part of a larger quasi‐autonomous system, the Anthroposphere.  

 

The geological influence of the Anthroposphere in the Earth system has already impacted all of the spheres, triggering a planetary ecological crisis. Massive species extinction due to habitat loss, climate change mostly from fossil fuel burning, water pollution with microplastics and space debris are some manifestations of how the Anthroposphere has changed the planet. However, it is the post World War II nuclear print of the anthroposphere in the Geosphere that characterises the new geological epoch the Earth system is: the Anthropocene.