ArticlePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2024
Evolution of the polycrisis: Anthropocene traps that challenge global sustainability.
Article in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Evolutionary Mismatch, Stress, and Competition: Making Sense of Psychosocial Problems in the Polycrisis Era.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Article
- Article
- Whose conservation, revisited: how a focus on people-nature relationships spotlights new directions for conservation science.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Starting from hopelessness - grand challenges, sustainable development goals, and responsible research and innovation under urgency and uncertainty.Journal of responsible innovation · 2025Article
- Promoting holistic wellbeing during the polycrisis: An essay on inner development through the martial art of Wing Chun.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- Complex systems perspective in assessing risks in artificial intelligence.Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences · 2024Article
- Phase synchronization between culture and climate forcing.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Young adults from disadvantaged groups experience more stress and deterioration in mental health associated with polycrisis.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- DiScO: novel rapid systems mapping to inform digital transformation of health systems.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Evolution of the polycrisis: Anthropocene traps that challenge global sustainability.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The Anthropocene is characterized by accelerating change and global challenges of increasing complexity. Inspired by what some have called a polycrisis, we explore whether the human trajectory of increasing complexity and influence on the Earth system could become a form of trap for humanity. Based on an adaptation of the evolutionary traps concept to a global human context, we present results from a participatory mapping. We identify 14 traps and categorize them as either global, technology or structural traps. An assessment reveals that 12 traps (86%) could be in an advanced phase of trapping with high risk of hard-to-reverse lock-ins and growing risks of negative impacts on human well-being. Ten traps (71%) currently see growing trends in their indicators. Revealing the systemic nature of the polycrisis, we assess that Anthropocene traps often interact reinforcingly (45% of pairwise interactions), and rarely in a dampening fashion (3%). We end by discussing capacities that will be important for navigating these systemic challenges in pursuit of global sustainability. Doing so, we introduce evolvability as a unifying concept for such research between the sustainability and evolutionary sciences. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolution and sustainability: gathering the strands for an Anthropocene synthesis'.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.