Assessing humanity’s global impact Michael Gross  Current Biology  Volume 25, Issue 4, Pages R131-R134 (February 2015) DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.01.063 Copyright © 2015 Terms and Conditions

Home planet: Our civilisation’s ability to picture our planet from space, as photographed here by the Apollo 8 crew, has increased our awareness of its vulnerability to human activities, but unsustainable growth continues. (Photo: Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center, NASA’s Earth Observatory.) Current Biology 2015 25, R131-R134DOI: (10.1016/j.cub.2015.01.063) Copyright © 2015 Terms and Conditions

Holocene memories: The Holocene saw a long period of relatively stable and mild climatic conditions, which benefited the spread of humans and their interventions, such as agriculture and hunting, around the globe. It also brought the extinction of megafauna including the woolly mammoth. (Photo: Flying Puffin, Wikimedia Commons.) Current Biology 2015 25, R131-R134DOI: (10.1016/j.cub.2015.01.063) Copyright © 2015 Terms and Conditions

Blow up: Humanity’s economic activities and therefore its impact on the Earth system have massively accelerated since around 1950, the time of the Korean War. (Photo: Cpl. P. McDonald, USMC, Wikimedia Commons.) Current Biology 2015 25, R131-R134DOI: (10.1016/j.cub.2015.01.063) Copyright © 2015 Terms and Conditions

All gone: Land use change, including deforestation, is one of the major human impacts on the Earth system that have triggered a departure from the conditions defining the Holocene epoch. (Photo: Aidenvironment, Wikimedia Commons.) Current Biology 2015 25, R131-R134DOI: (10.1016/j.cub.2015.01.063) Copyright © 2015 Terms and Conditions