Water in the Anthropocene

Water in the Anthropocene is a 3-minute film charting the global impact of humans on the water cycle.

Evidence is growing that our global footprint is now so significant we have driven Earth into a new geological epoch — the Anthropocene.

Human activities such as damming and agriculture are changing the global water cycle in significant ways.

The data visualisation was commissioned by the Global Water Systems Project for a major international conference (Water in the Anthropocene, Bonn, Germany, 21-24 May, 2013).
conference2013.gwsp.org

As datasets build upon one another, the film charts Earth’s changing global water cycle, why it is changing, and what this means for the future. The vertical spikes that appear in the film represent the 48,000 large dams that have been built.

The film was produced by Globaïa and the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme.
globaia.org // igbp.net

The film is part of the first website on the concept of humans as a geological force, anthropocene.info

Datasets:
– Base map: NASA, Natural Earth, Globaïa
– Total precipitation: GEOS-5 — svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a030000/a030000/a030017/index.html
– Ocean currents: OSCAR — svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003900/a003958/index.html
– Dams & Reservoir capacity: GRanD — sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/data/set/grand-v1-dams-rev01
– Cities: VIIRS 2012 — ngdc.noaa.gov/dmsp/download.html
– Cropland (North America): Agriculture Lands 2000 — earthstat.org
– Anthroposphere: Several sources, see Cartography of the Anthropocene on Globaïa’s website — globaia.org
– Sea ice: Sea Ice for Science on a Sphere — svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a003500/a003579/index.html
– Rivers: NGIA vMAP — geoengine.nga.mil/geospatial/SW_TOOLS/NIMAMUSE/webinter/vmap0_legend.html
– Lakes: Global Lakes and Wetlands Database — gcmd.nasa.gov/records/GCMD_GLWD.html
– Human Water Security Index: Adjusted HWS Threat — riverthreat.net

Music
Earlyguard — earlyguard.bandcamp.com
Jana Winderen — janawinderen.com

Produced for the Global Water Systems Project (GWSP)

GWSP is sponsored by:
DIVERSITAS
International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme
International Human Dimensions Programme
World Climate Research Programme

Scientific sponsors of the Welcome to the Anthropocene website:
CSIRO
International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme
Stockholm Resilience Centre
Future Earth