The Anthropocene and Disasters: Near Future, Will It Come?

Abstract

The Anthropocene Epoch can be characterized not as the increasing effect of humans/cities on the continental soil but as a temporal section in which the planet’s surface, the atmosphere, oceans, and nutrient cycle systems began to be changed/dominated by humans/urban. Together with the urbanization trend, the impact of cities and people is the driving force that started the Anthropocene Epoch. Global problems began to emerge with increasing trends, and irreversible disaster scenarios such as climate change, sixth mass extinction, biological destruction, and disasters were brought to the agenda. The increase in the diversity, frequency, and intensity of disasters increases the vulnerability and exposure of cities and people to different hazards, triggering disasters or making them worse. Events resulting from the Anthropocene Epoch "will the near future come?" also raises questions. For this reason, this study was created based on the assumption that the "Anthropocene Epoch includes disasters and cities play the main role here". In the context of this study, the historical process of the Anthropocene Epoch will be discussed, and the role of cities in this process will be determined. Finally, it will be investigated what will await humanity and cities shortly and which issues should be addressed in cities will be focused on.

Keywords

• Anthropocene
• urban planning
• future
• disaster
• catastrophe