Are we risking too much the sustainability of the Anthropocene technosphere?

Abstract

One of the most remarkable facts of our time is that our species inhabits a planetary Technosphere of its own making, something entirely new in its (natural and cultural) history. This allowed our species to acquire unprecedented power over the Earth’s fate and opened a new chapter in geohistory called the Anthropocene. The acquisition of this power has also made us aware of the consequences of its use and the dangers of its misuse. Thus, a reflection was started on the current functioning of the Technosphere and its evolutionary trajectory, namely on the risks with its weakening, collapse or disappearance from the short (next decades) to the medium term (next centuries). This article intends to be a contribution to this reflection. In the first part, the vision of the Technosphere of the American geologist Peter Haff is analyzed, not only because he originally conceptualized it, but also because he is still the main theorist. In the second part, it is argued that, after their coeval historical emergence, the Technosphere and the Anthropocene remained co-dependent and co-evolutionary realities, and some implications are drawn from a symbiotic relationship that has since been established between them. The third part examines the serious sustainability problem facing the Technosphere, largely determined by the so-called Anthropocene risks. The fourth part revisits the idea proposed 20 years ago for the creation of the so-called “Geoscope of Sustainability” as a more sustainable control and governance instrument for the Anthropocene Technosphere.