Planetary health in the Anthropocene

The idea that the Holocene is over and a new human-dominated geological epoch, the Anthropocene, is in progress has been widely discussed. The article aims to outline the published definitions and current patterns on the Anthropocene, highlighting an agenda of emerging risks, challenges and possibilities for the health of the worlds population in this new era. We performed a review on the complexities of planetary health in the Anthropocene, which generated 42 initial references for full-text reading; we selected 25 of them and carried out analysis and interpretation. Anthropogenic activities have increasing impacts on the environment and a fundamental change in the relationship between humans and the terrestrial system, in many ways that exert intentional and unintentional influences on natural and social processes. The burgeoning literature on health promotion and global public health talks about the anthropogenic forces, claiming a solid critical theory of action to confront, modify and reduce the deleterious effects of such forces. For that reason, the 23rd IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion, scheduled to be held in New Zealand in 2019, emphasizes the theme Promoting Planetary Health and Sustainable Development for All. It recognizes that the current paradigm of economic unlimited growth and exploitation of limited natural resources is unfair and unsustainable, leading to geopopulational and temporal inequities between generations.