Climate change and the Anthropocene.

We are living in a time referred to as the Anthropocene, derived from the Greek term for human (‘anthropo’) and the word for new (‘cene’).  Coined in the 1980s but became a wider used term after the 2000s when chemist Paul J Crutzen and diatom researcher Eugene F Stoermer. The pair suggested that we are living in a new geological epoch. The Anthropocene has become influential factor in the discussion of the ethological crisis which is climate change. These rapid changes from human impact on ecosystems including climate change. Along with the consequences of consumerism destruction of wildlife habitats as landscapes are torn up to make space for various production and extraction. Leading to animals becoming endangered and eventually extinct.

With the decline in intrest in taxidermy and less need for taxidermy in terms of science (Anthropocentric) taxidermy is no longer about nature but about death. although there is a small revival in Victorian curiosity taxidermy. taxidermy is no longer a respectable art, its not used for knowledge gain or for parlour display the way the Victorians would. its now seen as ‘gruesome’. Rather than seeing it as grotesque or peculiar it should be seen as a part of Victorian natural history and aesthetic practice. the association with hunting and farming bring a negative connotation to the practice.  Anti-naturalistic taxidermy from the 19th century is less about nature and more about human culture.

Morten Tønnesen. Thinking about Animals in the Age of the Anthropocene. Lanham, Lexington Books, 2016, www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Thinking_about_Animals_in_the_Age_of_the/0HrTCwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0.