The binary distinction between nature and culture is a matter of course which shapes everyday life, but it also structures knowledge. The sciences, which deal with the world of things, are opposed to the humanities, which are concerned with the products of the human mind, with history, ideas, and art. This distinction rests on the assumption that nature and culture are essentially different: the two terms denote different ontological categories, ways of being or modes of existence which require distinctive forms of knowledge. A recurring theme in discussions about the Anthropocene is the idea that it puts an end to this distinction between nature and culture. Earth system science forms the indispensable empirical foundation for an understanding of nature in the Anthropocene, its description of the Earth is in several ways ‘unnatural’. First of all, it contradicts traditional conceptions of nature as passive, harmonious, or unchanging.