History and Epistemology of Anthropocene Sciences

Socio-economic trends - 12 indicators

Figure 1. Trends from 1750 to 2010 in globally aggregated indicators for socio-economic development.

(Will Steffen et. al 2015)

The Earth System indicators, in general, continued their long-term, post-industrial rise, although a few, such as atmospheric methane concentration and stratospheric ozone loss, showed a slowing or apparent stabilisation over the past decade. The post-1950 acceleration in the Earth System indicators remains clear.

From the perspective temporality, only beyond the mid-20th century is there clear evidence for fundamental shifts in the state and functioning of the Earth System that are beyond the range of variability of the Holocene and driven by human activities.

Earth system trends - 12 indicators

Generally, the dominant feature of the socioeconomic trends is that the economic activity of the human enterprise continues to grow at a rapid rate, especially after 1950s.

Figure 3. Trends from 1750 to 2010 in indicators for the structure and functioning of the Earth System.