Timescales

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Humanists, scientists, and artists collaborate to address the disjunctive temporalities of ecological crisis. In 2016, Antarctica’s Totten Glacier, formed 34 million years ago, detached from its bedrock due to warming ocean waters. This event exemplifies the disjunctive temporalities of the Anthropocene’s ecological crises: the rapid degradation of our planet’s life-supporting environment that developed over millennia. The editors argue that to effectively represent and respond to these crises—such as climate change, rising sea levels, and biodiversity loss—requires a reframing of time itself, highlighting the connections between past, present, and future, as well as between human lifespans and the planet’s history. The collection features engaging essays that bring together oceanographers, geophysicists, geologists, and anthropologists with literary scholars, art historians, and archaeologists. They explore the interplay of geological deep time and historical context, ecological crises and cultural expression, environmental policy and social constructs, restoration ecology and future visions, and the balance between constructive pessimism and actionable hope. Additionally, three complementary “etudes” showcase artists discussing experimental works that investigate the various timescales of ecological crisis. Contributors include scholars and artists from prestigious institutions, creating a rich tapestry of interdisciplinar