Over the last 11,700 years, during which human civilization developed,
the earth has existed within what geologists refer to as the Holocene
Epoch. Now science is telling us that the Holocene Epoch in the
geological time scale ended, replaced by the onset of a new, more
dangerous Anthropocene Epoch, which began around 1950. The Anthropocene
Epoch is characterized by an "anthropogenic rift" in the biological
cycles of the Earth System, marking a changed reality in which human
activities are now the main geological force impacting the earth as a
whole, generating at the same time an existential crisis for the world's
population.
What caused this massive shift in the history of the earth? In this
comprehensive study, John Bellamy Foster tells us that a globalized
system of capital accumulation has induced humanity to foul its own
nest. The result is a planetary emergency that threatens all present and
future generations, throwing into question the continuation of
civilization and ultimately the very survival of humanity itself. Only
by addressing the social aspects of the current planetary emergency,
exploring the theoretical, historical, and practical dimensions of the
capitalism's alteration of the planetary environment, is it possible to
develop the ecological and social resources for a new journey of hope.