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Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education pp 1–10Cite as

Anthropocene and Sustainable Development

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Definition

The Anthropocene is the name given to the set of changes and transformations through which the planet Earth has passed during the last century or so and that have reached such a profound magnitude that several scientists and researchers affirm that the planet has entered a new geological era. These transformations can be seen and experienced in processes as the fast and vast urbanization process all over the world, growth in social and economic inequality rates like never seen before, wider and deeper overexploitation and scarcity of natural resources (soil erosion, water pollution, use of oil and other fossil fuels as main energy source by an increasing number of people), ecosystems degradation, and a higher incidence of phenomena like hurricanes, storms, droughts, floods, and high risk natural disasters in general, as well as the extinction of animal and vegetal species in unforeseen speed and proportions. Its comprehension is fundamental to discuss and to plan strategies...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Engineering, Modelling and Applied Social Sciences, Territorial Planning Department, Federal University of ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, SP, Brazil

    Leonardo Freire de Mello

  2. Centre for Engineering, Modelling and Applied Social Sciences, Master’s Candidate on the Programme of International Political Economy, Federal University of ABC, São Bernardo do Campo, SP, Brazil

    Sara Aparecida de Paula

Authors
  1. Leonardo Freire de Mello
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  2. Sara Aparecida de Paula
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Correspondence to Leonardo Freire de Mello .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life Sciences, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences Faculty of Life Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

Section Editor information

  1. The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Tamara Savelyeva

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de Mello, L.F., de Paula, S.A. (2019). Anthropocene and Sustainable Development. In: Leal Filho, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63951-2_108-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63951-2_108-1

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