ZGW Lecture series March 8, 2017

On Planetary Accountability: The New Nuclear Age

Earth scientists are currently working to reassess the geological history of planet Earth, searching for a signal of human industrial activity so ever-present as to constitute a new geological period. The formal scientific considerations for the golden spike of the "Anthropocene" have now centered on the mid-20th century, with the radioactive fallout of nuclear weapons tests a near consensus favorite. I consider the logics and implications of a "radioactive" Anthropocene in this paper, but also explore some unintended but potentially important transformations for nuclear politics of this technical judgement. Specifically, I am interested in how a planetary nuclear signature, as anchor for a new geological periodization, might enable a new kind of global reparations regime for nuclear injury. Ultimately, the paper asks what kind of planetary accountability might emerge from the conversation of the nuclear age as well as the Cold War arms race into a geological epoch.