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Use this audio as a guide, or explore this page on your own.

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Use this audio as a guide, or explore this page on your own.

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The idea of the Anthropocene is an inherently humancentric one – one which challenges the priorities of humanity. But climate change and the Anthropocene are difficult to describe, causing its discourse to easily become confused and complicated. Though climate change is a global issue, it affects everyone differently. Some people have never directly witnessed the impacts of the Anthropocene, while other’s livelihoods have been undeniably altered by it.

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In Albert Einstein's explanation of relative theory, he told a story of a time he went on a walk with his blind friend. The day was hot and he turned to the blind friend and said,

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Like in relative theory, individual people experience the Anthropocene differently and are sometimes are not even aware of it. Some people may have a great understanding of a few aspects of the issue, but still have no connection to others. In this way, we each have a unique perspective on climate change.

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While we cannot see the whole picture, we can challenge ourselves to analyze individual stories like puzzle pieces that complexly fit together to represent the Anthropocene. Wicked problems like the Anthropocene are so difficult to understand because they are often exclusively discussed on a broad scale. Instead of trying to convey the whole scope of this “wicked problem”, it is becoming more valuable to share the real stories of those who have been affected by a changing atmosphere. This simpler approach allows for a wider audience to learn about the consequences of climate change. Simplification of the problem does not diminish the seriousness of the problem, as long as the representation of a variety of stories remains a priority.

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Why is it important for more people to understand the Anthropocene? 

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Why is it important for more people to understand the Anthropocene? 

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The more minds that can be involved in Anthropocene discourse, the more novel ideas can be produced to help combat the structures and actions that further climate change.

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Anthropocene discourse as it exists now limits participation to a select group of people. Google Trends shows us that searches of the term occur mostly in Sweden, Canada, and Australia. Many African and South American countries show no results when, in fact, it may be these countries whose citizens are most likely to encounter tangible consequences of the Anthropocene like changing rainfall patterns and increased climate variability which can result in decreased crop yields. Increasing the representation of these communities will not only educate those outside of them on the characteristics of climate change, but it will also focus attention on the populations that are most at risk of its devastating impacts.

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This type of vital story telling is demonstrated beautifly by Thought Cafe’s Renewable Revolution with David Suzuki, who discusses the Inuit’s’ perspective on climate change.

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This type of vital story telling is demonstrated beautifly by Thought Cafe’s Renewable Revolution with David Suzuki, who discusses the Inuit’s’ perspective on climate change.

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Thought Café is an award-winning animation, design, and visual effect studio located in Toronto, Canada. Thought Café is partnered with productions like John Green’s Crash Course, CBC, and CIVIX with the goal of presenting information in new and exciting ways. While many of these projects focus on a younger audience, they all use incredible artwork that people of all ages can appreciate. This video combines an infographic style with Suzuki’s voice to share the ideas on the Renewable Revolution.

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This infographic animation style combines visual metaphors, figures, text, and music to allow the presentation of a large amount of data in a short period of time. These visuals are a supplement to the audio. Technically, the audio and the visuals can work independently from each other.

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For example, the image above is just a brief segment of the video describing the idea of the Renewable Revolution. Though it is separated from the audio, we can see the meaning though the use of short words and phrases, as well as visuals. A man, who seems to be an adventurer, stands facing towards a minimalist nature scene. His backpack is solar-powered, charging his phone and laptop. The clothing items on the screen with the words “biomimicry” and “clothes=forest” imply that the revolution will incorporate technology which adapts existing processes and elements of the natural world. When combined with the audio, the impact is even stronger. Suzuki says “the energy of the future is renewable energy”.

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Story telling using this format allows broad ideas to be depicted in ways that can even transcend language and culture. The fact that these informational animations produced by Thought Café are free on the internet is enough reason why Anthropocene discourse should utilize this format to reach a broader audience. Visual media is also increasingly easy to access and share on social media, with the rise of platforms such as Tik Tok (800 million users) and Instagram (1 billion users) – both of which are free to use and are exclusively for sharing photos and videos.

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For example, a Tik Tok user called woodenjourney uses the platform to share “climate change news of the day”. These short videos share stories about ways people are working to combat climate change all around the world, the like one above.

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Great job Morocco 🇲🇦!!!! 🌦🎙#woodenjourney #climate #climatechange #solarenergy #solarenergy #trees #morocco #onetrilliontrees

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@woodenjourney
Great job Morocco 🇲🇦!!!! 🌦🎙#woodenjourney #climate #climatechange #solarenergy #solarenergy #trees #morocco #onetrilliontrees
♬ original sound - Wooden Journey

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Other creators on Tik Tok who use the platform to spread information about environmentalism:

Phil the Fixer – 24.7 K followers, 690.2 K likes

Trashcaulin – 334.2 K followers, 7.5 M likes

Sabrina.sustainable.life – 18.8 K followers,  495.8 K likes

Sisterscattleco – 3687 followers, 41 K likes

Click here to view the environmental tag on Tik Tok.

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Will this type of discourse be too simple?

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Will this type of discourse be too simple?

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While these types of discourse simplify complicated ideas and much less technical than scientific journals or climate change legislation, it is a valuable tool for education and for normalizing discussion about environmentalism. Establishing the influence of the Anthropocene as a principle to modern living requires community participation on a large scale. Infographic, visual storytelling is a great way to set the stage for further inquiry by older viewers who can take action and can inform younger audiences about the effects of climate change. The use of viral media to help spread stories about the Anthropocene does not replace the need for scientific data but acts as an introduction to complicated topics such as Earth’s natural systems.  Expanding discussion about the Anthropocene to a wider audience is the first step to global understanding and developing technology that will help us adapt to our changing atmosphere.