You can’t miss it!

Let’s start with a paradox. The planet we’re living on, Earth, since terraforming and colonising Mars is currently not possible, is slowing down. 500 million years ago, a day was 22 hours long. Given that the change is about a millisecond per century, it is very unlikely that any of us will feel that effect. It is, however, all the more surprising if one considers the evolution of human activity and the fact that things seem to always go faster. And indeed, the ‘Great Acceleration’ is the expression used to describe the spectacular development since the 1950s, of the world economy, population, energy demand, trade, and… of the human impact on the environment.