The Verdant Age

The concept of the Verdant Age has a rich scientific heritage. Here are some of the ideas that underpin the Verdant Age.

There will be life on Earth for another 2 billion years or so, beyond which time the Sun will swell-up and scorch the planet bare of life. If humans can foster an Ecological Civilization, we may be able to survive on this planet deep into the Long Future, i.e. hundreds of millions of years.

The 2018 science paper Trajectories of the Earth System in the Anthropocene describes the necessity of the human race to become the stewards of the whole Earth System. 

Humans add a level of self-awareness to Earth's self-regulation. By emphasizing the agency of life-forms (e.g. human civilization), and their ability to set goals, Gaia 2.0 may be an effective framework for fostering global sustainability. 

Astrophysicist Adam Frank developed a scale for describing planets. A Class 5 Planet is on that has an ecological civilization. He defines Class 5 as planets in which an energy-intensive technological species establishes a sustainable form of cooperation with the biosphere that increases the productivity of both. On these planets the civilization enhances the ability of the biosphere to innovate and evolve.

Just as the Anthropocene is the name given to the current geological period of time, a future time is conceived: the Ecozoic. This age will be defined by human civilization and nature thriving in synergy. Of course, if human civilization is driven extinct, this won't happen.

Ecological Civilization implies human civilization that is in synergy with the natural biophysical processes of Planet Earth. In this case, the Living Planet and its Civilization becomes immune to fatal shocks. An Ecological Civilization could potentially survive on this planet for hundreds of millions of years.