“The Anthropocene” viewed from Vernadsky’s Noosphere

The recent publication of studies highlighting the role of mankind as a powerful geological force, referred to as the “Anthropocene,” serve as a good opportunity to clarify how this concept overlaps and differs from Vladimir Vernadsky’s concept of the noösphere (and a great way to honor him just before his upcoming birthday on March 12th!). Going from the most general definition we can find of each of these terms, they seem to be close to synonymous. But what is most important is to remember that the same term can be used by different people who have different intentions and hence different shades of meaning can be implied. This is most clear in recent use of the term “anthropocene.”

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