FREE & ONLINE: FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2022

CARTA presents, “Humans: The Planet-Altering Apes”

CARTA is a broad-based coalition of scholars interested in defining and explaining the evolutionary origins of humans and in generating testable hypotheses and new agendas for research on this subject. CARTA public symposia emphasize our primary objectives –– to explore and explain where we humans came from, and how we got here. To avoid distractions from these intellectual goals, we generally limit discussions of current-day implications and the question of where we are going as a species. However, we now feel the urgent moral and practical imperative to call attention to the long- and short-term impact of humans on the planet that we inhabit, and the consequences for the future of our species. Accordingly, on March 5, 2022, CARTA presented, "Human Origins and Humanity's Future: Past, Present and Future of the Anthropocene,” co-chaired by Leslie Aiello (University College London) and Charles Kennel (Scripps Institution of Oceanography and University of Cambridge), which introduced discussion on the human-made epoch coined the “Anthropocene.” To elaborate upon and extend this discussion, CARTA’s Spring 2022 public symposium will address specific examples of how humans have drastically altered the planet, mentioning attempts to mitigate our negative impact. We will intentionally not discuss the much rarer examples wherein humans are doing positive things to improve our impact, as such examples tend to trigger unjustified hope. Depressing as it may seem, it is time for “legitimate fear-mongering” (a deliberately provocative term intended to get attention), not just about our impact on global climate or pandemic infections (subjects of prior CARTA symposia) or other well-known factors like population growth, but also on many other aspects of the planet. In the process, we are coming full circle to Anthropogeny, asking how a single species could have evolved the ability to alter the entire planet so drastically. Acknowledged experts will discuss clearly defined global-scale negative impacts on the planet (other than climate change, population growth, and infectious diseases, which we have addressed earlier) –– each talk succinctly describing a specific impact, the role that our species has played, and concluding with ongoing or potential approaches to mitigation.

Presented by The Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA), an UC San Diego ORU. This FREE and online-only, public symposium begins Friday, May 13, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. (Pacific), with LIVE Discussion and Q&A commencing ~ 3:30 p.m. (Pacific). Funding for "Humans: The Planet-Altering Apes" was provided by many generous CARTA donors, with special support from CARTA Friend Kathlyn Furr. Closed captioning for these recordings was made possible by CARTA Patrons Ingrid Benirschke-Perkins & Gordon Perkins.

For registration and details: https://carta.anthropogeny.org/events/humans-planet-altering-apes

For more info, contact: Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA) khunter@ucsd.edu | https://carta.anthropogeny.org