We live in a world being thoroughly reconfigured by human activity. While individuals are insignificant in shaping our planet, all 6.6 billion people on Earth now rival natural processes in creating global change. The term Anthropocene is being used to describe this new geologic epoch in Earth history, where humans are the dominant planetary agents of change. The Science Museum of Minnesota, in partnership with seven global change research centers located at universities across the U.S., will create exhibits (both permanent and portable), Internet kiosks, and a collaborative website that seek to bridge the gap between scientific research advances and communication about them to the public, thereby accelerating discussions about how to mitigate negative changes to our planet. In addition to general museum audiences, Future Earth also will target government, corporate, non-profit and community leaders, who are increasingly concerned about global change and looking for ways to better understand the impact of these issues on the policy decisions they influence.
The Future Earth Initiative is funded by the National Science Foundation. Learn More