ABSTRACT
The historical path to the Anthropocene began with the onset of technology, control of fire and language development in mostly egalitarian paleolithic hunter-gatherer groups in which material possessions that hindered mobility were burdens. Human-induced ecological change gathered steam with the Neolithic transition to agriculture, which led to permanent settlements and eventually civilizations with increased social stratification and hierarchies, accumulation of material possessions and wealth, and major alterations of ecosystems to make room for farming. By the early modern era, pre-industrial societies, especially in Europe, had established a vast network of global trade and ecological exchange through colonialism and conquest. The pace of change increased further with the shift around 1800 to industrial societies, in which mechanization, automation, use of synthetic substances and material and other innovations exacerbated the ecological impacts of humanity. Human population increased all along this historical trajectory, especially after the Neolithic transition, and now humans are about 5% of the total animal mass on Earth and consume 25 to 40% of the planet’s biomass production. By many measures, humans in the Anthropocene are severely overrunning Earth’s life support capacity and planetary boundaries of safe operating space for humanity.
