Opening Event "We are the Anthropocene - The horror and beauty of global change"

Today, there is no place on earth untouched by humans. Human-made change goes far beyond climate change. It also affects soils, oceans, plants, animals and geochemical cycles. In short, humans have become a significant geological factor.

Humans have an impact as powerful as that of natural forces such as volcanic eruptions or earthquakes. Our actions today will have an effect far into the geological future. That is why we speak of a new geological epoch of humans, the ‘Anthropocene’. According to current research, this new geological epoch began in the middle of the twentieth century.

In this photographic exhibition, ethnologist and geologist Christoph Antweiler from our university's Institute of Oriental and Asian Studies (IOA) shows the causes and consequences of this problematic development.