Anthropogenic planetary disruptions, from climate change to biodiversity loss, are unprecedented challenges.

For better and for worse, these disruptions are the product of unprecedented capabilities to shape the environments that sustain human societies. Can Earth’s newest and most disruptive force of nature be redirected to achieve a better future for all of life in the Anthropocene?

To succeed, evidence-based cultural narratives that appeal to shared human aspirations for a better future will be more effective than dystopic narratives of environmental crisis and overstepping natural boundaries.