B. L. Turner II is Regents’ Professor and Gilbert F. White Professor of Environment and Society at Arizona State University. A geographer and human-environmental scientist, he has engaged in research on a wide range of topics across the human–environment relationship and sustainability. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (US), American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Philosophical Society and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Association of American Geographers.

The Anthropocene is certainly one of the most important scientific and political issues of the 21st century. This book by B. L. Turner II is fascinating, very clear, and erudite. It provides a useful synthesis of contemporary knowledge. And it does so in a particularly accessible and scientifically accurate way. It includes numerous diagrams, photographs, and charts, an index, and a glossary with many definitions. It is an indispensable teaching tool for: raising students’ awareness of how the Earth system works; researchers who are currently working to produce knowledge that will enable us to understand more about how the Earth system works; and those who are working to identify the levers for containing the dramatic bio-climatic runaway.

• IntroductionSection I The Anthropocene and the Earth System: foundational conceptsSection II The emergence of the AnthropoceneSection III Human changes to the land surface/lithosphereSection IV Human changes to the hydrosphereSection V Human changes to the atmosphereSection VI Human changes to life in the biosphereSection VII The human causes of the AnthropoceneSection VIII Understanding our relationship with natureSection IX Sustainability in the Anthropocene

B. L. Turner II is Regents’ Professor and Gilbert F. White Professor of Environment and Society at Arizona State University. A geographer and human-environmental scientist, he has engaged in research on a wide range of topics across the human–environment relationship and sustainability. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (US), American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Philosophical Society and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Association of American Geographers.

The Anthropocene is certainly one of the most important scientific and political issues of the 21st century. This book by B. L. Turner II is fascinating, very clear, and erudite. It provides a useful synthesis of contemporary knowledge. And it does so in a particularly accessible and scientifically accurate way. It includes numerous diagrams, photographs, and charts, an index, and a glossary with many definitions. It is an indispensable teaching tool for: raising students’ awareness of how the Earth system works; researchers who are currently working to produce knowledge that will enable us to understand more about how the Earth system works; and those who are working to identify the levers for containing the dramatic bio-climatic runaway.

• IntroductionSection I The Anthropocene and the Earth System: foundational conceptsSection II The emergence of the AnthropoceneSection III Human changes to the land surface/lithosphereSection IV Human changes to the hydrosphereSection V Human changes to the atmosphereSection VI Human changes to life in the biosphereSection VII The human causes of the AnthropoceneSection VIII Understanding our relationship with natureSection IX Sustainability in the Anthropocene

B. L. Turner II is Regents’ Professor and Gilbert F. White Professor of Environment and Society at Arizona State University. A geographer and human-environmental scientist, he has engaged in research on a wide range of topics across the human–environment relationship and sustainability. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences (US), American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Philosophical Society and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Association of American Geographers.

The Anthropocene is certainly one of the most important scientific and political issues of the 21st century. This book by B. L. Turner II is fascinating, very clear, and erudite. It provides a useful synthesis of contemporary knowledge. And it does so in a particularly accessible and scientifically accurate way. It includes numerous diagrams, photographs, and charts, an index, and a glossary with many definitions. It is an indispensable teaching tool for: raising students’ awareness of how the Earth system works; researchers who are currently working to produce knowledge that will enable us to understand more about how the Earth system works; and those who are working to identify the levers for containing the dramatic bio-climatic runaway.

• IntroductionSection I The Anthropocene and the Earth System: foundational conceptsSection II The emergence of the AnthropoceneSection III Human changes to the land surface/lithosphereSection IV Human changes to the hydrosphereSection V Human changes to the atmosphereSection VI Human changes to life in the biosphereSection VII The human causes of the AnthropoceneSection VIII Understanding our relationship with natureSection IX Sustainability in the Anthropocene