Credit: Sea Change Radio | Download

There’s a scientific debate afoot in geological and environmental circles about what to call the current time period. According to the International Union of Geological Sciences, we’re living in the Holocene epoch, but many believe that the term “Anthropocene” would better reflect the impact that humankind has had and is continuing to have on the planet.

This week on Sea Change Radio, we discuss the Anthropocene with Richard Heinberg of the Post Carbon Institute. Along with host Alex Wise, Heinberg looks at why the terminology debate is more than just semantics, and examines a division among environmentalists – between what he has dubbed the “Techno-Anthropocene” proponents and the “Lean Green” movement.

Read Richard’s essay The Anthropocene: It’s Not All About Us.