The Great Acceleration

The Great Acceleration

The video describes the Great Acceleration: the rapid rise in the scale and intensity of human activity, especially since the mid-20th century. Many indicators—including global temperature, plastic production, extinctions, fertilizer entering oceans, fishing, population, and energy use—form “hockey stick” curves.

For most of human history, these measures changed slowly. The video contrasts that long period with the past two centuries. Since 1820, the world’s population has grown roughly sevenfold, life expectancy has increased about 2.5 times, and fossil fuels have transformed how people generate heat and power industry.

The acceleration began with the expanding use of fossil fuels in the 1800s. It became a worldwide shift after World War II, alongside independence movements in Africa and Asia, as more people gained access to fossil fuels, new farming technologies, and public-health advances. As a result, humans now influence Earth on a planetary scale, while the speed of change makes the distant future difficult to predict.

The video connects the Great Acceleration to challenges such as clean water and sustainable ecosystems, equitable communities, health, adaptation to change, and sustainable food production.

Researchers and Sources Featured

• Jessica Hellmann — Director of the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment
• Dan Philippon — University of Minnesota English professor
• University of Minnesota — Sponsor; its course Living the Good Life at the End of the World is mentioned as a way students explore these challenges.