Photos: Mother Nature must be really annoyed at our fakery

Oh dear: Photos show what humans have done to the planet

Some scientists say Earth has entered a new geological epoch — the Anthropocene era — defined by human impact on the global landscape. Three artists traveled to 22 countries to see what we’ve wrought.

Since 2019, we’ve covered the debate among geologists over whether to dub our current epoch the “Anthropocene” by the measurable mark we’ve made — through mining, deforestation, building and nuclear bombs — on the geologic record. The term comes from the Greek, anthropos, meaning human. Top geologists voted against that last year, but the decision hasn’t stopped photographers from using the term as a frame to explore humans’ relationship to the world we’re remaking. This story is part of our series “following up” on