This inter- and transdisciplinary session examines the relationship between the scientific concept of the Anthropocene epoch, based on analysis of stratigraphic archives, with our societies and the issues they face. The Anthropocene epoch, as a unifying concept, helps us (1) understand the transformed bioclimatic conditions in which we live, (2) appreciate how fragile they are, how rapidly they are shifting, and their implications for humanity, and (3) explain the importance of containing climatic, biological, and attendant societal runaway effects, through deeper understanding of the Earth System. The Anthropocene epoch, as represented by the AWG’s proposal, is characterised by a sharply expressed and lasting change in the habitability of the Earth that is now human-driven but in which planetary feedbacks and tipping points will likely become increasingly important. In detail, it is a complex concept. However, in broad terms it is straightforward to communicate to a wide audience, given that many of the component phenomena (e.g. the rises in greenhouse gases) are clearly, even dramatically, expressed. This Anthropocene concept, in its many guises, provides links between the global climate, the biosphere and societies and their respective dominant processes that include runaway effects and tipping points, collapse and acceleration.
Stratigraphic evidence-based and systemic in scope, the Anthropocene epoch also carries an ethical responsibility for conveying the concerns of scientific communities about the worsening of bioclimatic living conditions. Here the questions studied during the presentations become innumerable: (1) How can we pass on the knowledge of the Anthropocene (stratigraphic, systemic and from the human and social sciences) to young people without undermining their ability to envisage their future? (2) What use can we make of the Anthropocene to challenge public policy? (3) How can we make the systemic power of the Anthropocene concept not eradicate all hope for the sustainability of human life in society? How can we combine the power of the diagnosis of this new geological epoch with an intellectually honest hope that will mobilise people to transform societies? Studies from any continent will be considered.