The author’s offering of a sub-categorization for anthropocene - capitalocene is an interesting perspective on the very definition of the category itself. The anthropocene defines the area of geologic time that is named for the impact that humans have had on the earth itself. As policymakers specifically try to mitigate the effects of climate change there is the often cited goal of maintaining the global temperature to no more than two-degree celsius above pre-industrial levels. The industrial age, which was marked by a huge increase in production and consumption was quite literally fueled by fuels that have contributed to the increasing global temperatures. The extraction of coal, natural gas, and fuel sources have led to incredible changes to the earth itself. For this reason, it is fair to further define the last 150 years as the Capitalocene. In addition to the direct impact on the earth itself, the desires to continue capitalist endeavors will cause further damage to the efforts of mitigating climate change because the cycle of capital acquisition at current levels is most decidedly unsustainable.
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