The notion of the Anthropocene was first proposed twenty-four years ago by the atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen. It denotes a geological epoch defined by human activity, and remains an unofficial designation, with the International Commission on Stratigraphy—whose processes appear to be geologically slow—yet to approve it for technical use. Nevertheless, in that quarter of a century it has become ubiquitous in both specialist and non-specialist circles, and especially in conversations about anthropogenic climate change and its attendant ecological crises. The reason isn’t hard to fathom: as a description of how humanity has transformed the planet’s environment, the Anthropocene is also a prescription enjoining it to clear up its mess. The question is what kind of prescription the Anthropocene ‘narrative’ lends itself to. [More here.]