TY - UNPB
T1 - The astrobiology of the anthropocene
AU - Haqq-Misra, Jacob
AU - Som, Sanjoy
AU - Mullan, Brendan
AU - Loureiro, Rafael
AU - Schwieterman, Edward
AU - Seyler, Lauren
AU - Mogosanu, Haritina
AU - Frank, Adam
AU - Wolf, Eric
AU - Forgan, Duncan
AU - Cockell, Charles
AU - Sullivan, Woodruff
N1 - A white paper on "Astrobiology Science Strategy" submitted to the National Academy of Sciences.
PY - 2018/1/7
Y1 - 2018/1/7
N2 - Human influence on the biosphere has been evident at least since the development of widespread agriculture, and some stratigraphers have suggested that the activities of modern civilization indicate a geological epoch transition. The study of the anthropocene as a geological epoch, and its implication for the future of energy-intensive civilizations, is an emerging transdisciplinary field in which astrobiology can play a leading role. Habitability research of Earth, Mars, and exoplanets examines extreme cases relevant for understanding climate change as a planetary process. Energy-intensive civilizations will also face thermodynamic limits to growth, which provides an important constraint for estimating the longevity of human civilization and guiding the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. We recommend that missions concepts such as LUVOIR, HabEx, and OST be pursued in order to make significant progress toward understanding the future evolution of life on our planet and the possible evolution of technological, energy-intensive life elsewhere in the universe.
AB - Human influence on the biosphere has been evident at least since the development of widespread agriculture, and some stratigraphers have suggested that the activities of modern civilization indicate a geological epoch transition. The study of the anthropocene as a geological epoch, and its implication for the future of energy-intensive civilizations, is an emerging transdisciplinary field in which astrobiology can play a leading role. Habitability research of Earth, Mars, and exoplanets examines extreme cases relevant for understanding climate change as a planetary process. Energy-intensive civilizations will also face thermodynamic limits to growth, which provides an important constraint for estimating the longevity of human civilization and guiding the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. We recommend that missions concepts such as LUVOIR, HabEx, and OST be pursued in order to make significant progress toward understanding the future evolution of life on our planet and the possible evolution of technological, energy-intensive life elsewhere in the universe.
KW - Astrophysics - Earth and planetary astrophysics
KW - Astrophysics - instrumentation and methods for Astrophysics
KW - Physics - popular physics
KW - Physics - physics and society
M3 - Working paper
BT - The astrobiology of the anthropocene
ER -
