Adventures in the Anthropocene

Bol Partner

We live in epoch-making times. Literally. The changes we humans have made in recent decades have altered our world beyond anything it has experienced in its 4.5 billion-year history -- we have become a force on a par with earth-shattering asteroids and planet-cloaking volcanoes. As a result, our planet is said to be crossing a geological boundary -- from the Holocene into the Anthropocene, or Age of Man. Gaia Vince decided to quit her job at science journal Nature, and travel the world at the start of this new age to explore what all these changes really mean -- especially for the people living on the frontline of the planet we've made. She found ordinary people solving severe crises in ingenious, effective ways. Take the retired railway worker who's building artificial glaciers in the Himalayas, for example, or the Peruvian painting mountains white to retain snowfall. Meet the villagers in India using satellite technology to glean water; and the women farmers in Africa combining the latest genetic discoveries with ancient irrigation techniques; witness the electrified reefs in the Maldives and the man who's making islands out of rubbish in the Caribbean.Alongside these extraordinary -- and inspiring -- stories, Gaia looks at how humanity's changes are reshaping our living planet, transforming our relationshiop with the natural world, and explores how we might engineer Earth for our future - See more at: http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/gaia-vince/adventures-in-the-anthropocene-a-journey-to-the-heart-of-the-planet-we-made-9780701187347.aspx#sthash.Gbdv0EM2.dpuf

Bol

Explore the impact of humans on the planet in this beautiful new edition of Gaia Vincent's powerful work. In recent decades human beings have altered the planet beyond anything it has experienced in its 4.5 billion-year history. We have become a force on a par with earth-shattering asteroids and planet-cloaking volcanoes. As a result, our planet is said to be crossing a geological boundary - from the Holocene into the Anthropocene, or the Age of Man. Gaia Vince quit her job to travel the world and to explore what all these changes really mean to our daily lives. She discovers the shocking ways in which we have reshaped our living planet and reveals the ingenious solutions we've evolved to engineer Earth for the future. PATTERNS OF LIFE: SPECIAL EDITIONS OF GROUNDBREAKING SCIENCE BOOKS