ANTHROPOCENE:

the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment.

— Definition from Oxford Languages

 

Economic and technological advancements of the last century have come at a cost. In exhausting our planet’s natural resources, our markets and societies destroy the fundamental constructs of civilization. The catastrophic effects of extreme disasters are exacerbated by climate change and by our lack of action in combating environmental issues. From plummeting biodiversity and the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet to the prolonged drought in sub-Saharan Africa, the devastating Australian wildfires, and the tropical storms that demolished areas of Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific, the horrors of (un)natural disasters are evident. Millions of people suffer from what is being described as the world’s first “climate change-induced famine” — this environmental pandemic threatens our very existence as it impacts on our rights to food, water, housing and livelihoods.